Matthew 4 – 6

Matthew 4:1-3 “Then was Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the demon. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou art the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

You need to know that the earth was overtaken by darkness and before you delve into the affairs, you need to be led by light. God deed not start His work in the beginning without first introducing light.

The Ministry of Jesus demonstrated the procedure of starting a ministry. First, He ensured all righteousness was fulfilled by submitting Himself to John The Baptist’s ministry. That was not Jesus’ ministry, but John’s and it was required to be enlisted in the Kingdom to which Jesus represented. Here we must respect jurisdictions and understand submission and obedience. John recognized Him as a Kingdom factor far higher than himself. He said”

Matthew 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with water to repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:”

Kingdom principle is very vital in our disposition to starting a ministry. As mighty as the Lord Jesus Christ is, He still submitted Himself to the baptism of John The Baptist. For John, his baptism was unto repentance. And for the Lord Jesus, His baptism was with the Holy Ghost and with Fire; the both of them maintained their various jurisdictions.

The second aspect of the beginning of His ministry was to be led BY THE SPIRIT (not by anger, disgruntlement or bitterness) into the wilderness to be tempted by the prince of the darkness of this world. Satan was at the gate of the world. He scans every entrance into the world. He knew Jesus entered the world and hunted Him with the sword of Herod. When it was time for Jesus to start His ministry, the Spirit led Him to meet Satan and Satan took Him through three stages of his temptations which he gives every man.

1. Authority
2. Power and Position
3. Pride

Note that Jesus did not go to the wilderness to ask God for ministry. He did not choose the number of days to fast Himself. He did not choose the time to fast Himself. He did not choose the place to stay to fast Himself. All His steps were controlled by the Spirit for a venture, “to be tempted of the devil.” Jesus was already connected to His purpose on earth. He knew He was not of this world. He knew the Kingdom He belonged to. As a matter of fact, the tempter, himself, knew who Jesus was.

The tempter charged Jesus on two grounds.

1. His Sonship to the Almighty and the authority He has, “if thou be the Son of God,”. On first occasion, he requested Him to use His authority and then, in another case, he used the WORD to address Jesus to use His power and position. These two phrases were not used on the third occasion which took place on an exceedingly high mountain, the peak of pride.
2. On the peak of pride, he showed Jesus two things; kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. All these were under the tempters jurisdiction and they are still there. He made only one request, “worship me”

You need to know, beloved, that Satan is in charge of everything that carries pride.  The precious stones of the world are under his control; jewelries and worldly splendor. Precious stones are to be mined and, in all places, where mining takes place, they make sacrifices to appease the gods of that land. Otherwise the precious stones get farther away from exploitation.

Ezekiel 28:13 “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”

These are what Satan presented to Jesus. Without any doubt, money is attached to these precious stones. These are what many see in the world and they answered their calling. Jesus did not answer the calling of the glory of this world. He came in the glory of the kingdom of heaven. A lot of places of worship are places to display expensive jewelries and seductive attires. They worship in the pride of what they wear and ride. A lot of indecent dressings have taken over places of worship.

This world is divided into kingdoms and all the kingdoms are under his control through the fall of man. Kingdoms in terms of:

1. Continents
2. Nations
3. Empires
4. Ethnics
5. Clans and wards
6. Kindreds
7. Industries

They all have their various spiritual atmosphere carrying the network that monitors and controls them. Every man is connected to the root of the father’s house. This is the reason you cannot stop praying to break yourself off the demonic anchor.

Jesus did not start His ministry with the thought of building the biggest church auditorium on earth but a body without blemish. He did not think of the most beautiful auditorium; He even said the existing one in His time would be destroyed and He would build another one within three days. His message was not to enrich with material things, but to have heavenly wealth. He did not encourage us to associate with the world but to be separated from the world whilst in the world. The whole world was in total darkness according to Matthew 4:13-16. And Jesus brought the message of light.

Matthew 4:13-17 “And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim; 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness, saw great light; and to them who sat in the region and shades of death, light hath arisen. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:23 “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.”

His message is very clear, even though it was not comfortable for the leaders of those days. Demons in charge of various jurisdiction were not comfortable with His teaching and preaching to the extent that they revolted openly. Instead of wasting His power and authority to change stone to bread and commanding angels who were already at His service to impress or prove to Satan of His Sonship to the Almighty, He used them in liberating people that were bound and commanding the rebellious demons out of their closed places. Demons could not resist His authority because He did not start His ministry by Himself but led by the Spirit. Many are led by their thoughts, mind, and what Satan presented as the glory of this world, mammon, pride and fame. The gospel of the kingdom is missing in their messages because they send or called themselves; no message from heaven.

In Jesus’ teaching, He taught:

1. The Beatitudes
2. Salt and light
3. Anger and reconciliation
4. The higher righteousness
5. Adultery and divorce
6. Oaths and retaliation
7. Piety and alms giving
8. Prayer and fasting
9. Possessions and Masters
10. Anxiety and God’s kingdom
11. Judging and hypocrisy
12. The strait and wide gates
13. The operation of false prophets
14. The wise and foolish builders
15. Others with miracles being performed.

Remarkable in His teaching was the emphasis that He did not come to destroy the law. Rather, He came to give the grace to fulfill the law. A lot of ministries are breaking the law thinking that grace will cover it just to maintain membership. All our works will be tried with fire.

Matthew 5:17-20 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

If you are starting, start well, so that you can end well.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Jesus is coming soon. Amen. But will He find the FAITH built on His Words?

KJV-R (Webster) Luke 18:7-9 “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 9 And he spoke this parable to certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:”

Supo Abayode

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA

Wednesday, February 6, 2019        Day 37

Exodus 37-40            THE MERCY SEAT

To understand the topic better, let us conceive these few scriptures in our heart first.

Exodus 33:19 “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

The peak of our walk with and enjoyment of God is grace; the out pour of grace.that was the reason the scripture says there was GREAT grace on the Apostles. That grace should be the pursuit of the children of God (not power) because grace supplies the power.

Acts 4:33 “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”

 Looking at the last quote (John 1:17), it clearly shows that Moses was just a vessel that could be fired or disposed at any point in time. He was not the law, but just to write down what he heard. To even have the ability to hear was the grace he, himself, was privileged to have. He was just used to convey the law. His case is like the bottled water. The most important of it is the water in the bottled. The bottle was made from plastic pellets (earth), molded to shape and cleaned (sanctified), and set apart for the purpose of being filled with water (consecration). It could have been used for another liquid, but this time around, for water. And the liquid to fill it determines the thickness of the bottle wall. Now, the most important thing of this package is the water itself. Once the water is used up, the bottle is discarded into the trash and you don’t even remember the bottle again. This is exactly what happens when the new earth comes to be after this age. We shall not remember the things of this world anymore.

Isaiah 65:17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”

Going back to our analogy. what the bottler wants to get to you, the consumer, is the water, which signifies the grace from God.

Moses never made the law, he was just a conveyor. His duty was to deliver as it is. And that was what he did. When he went into error, he was removed. He was not weak in activities nor did his old age affect his work; just a little defect affected his service. This is not to downgrade his relevance, but to emphasize his humanity, frailty and dispensability as a vessel.

The first quote, Exodus 33:19, makes us to understand that GRACE and MERCY belongs only to God’s discretion. And these are our satisfactions. No one can give these to us, except God. A man of God can tell you, “your sins are forgiven” after confession because His word says He is faithful and just to forgive us when we confess. But no man of God can proclaim mercy and grace on anyone, except Jesus Christ who was full of grace and truth.

Our discussion is the MERCY SEAT. The first mention of it was in Exodus 25. Please, note the underlined for emphasis.

Exodus 25:16 “And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.”

Exodus 25:17-22 “And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

The Law was the core of Moses’ calling and that is the reason John 1:17 says. “the law was given by Moses,…” It was to prepare the people to meet God because their spirit was dead to receive from God. The environment of meeting was designed by God, and the pattern given to Moses. Each time, God referred Moses to what He showed him on the Mount.

Exodus 25:9 “According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”

That pattern must be strictly followed. This is why we must all be submissive to the vision carrier in any ministry. If you are not comfortable with the agenda, politely excuse yourself and your disengagement must be mutually cordial.

Hebrews 13:1 “Let brotherly love continue.”

Any disengagement that is void of this, is not accepted. But if they refuse to honor your polite disengagement, tell God to give you direction. That aside.

Not only was the design shown to Moses, the type of material for each instrument together with the precise measurements were given to him. There should not be any mis-match. To avoid this, God ensured He filled some people with the spirit to do the craftwork in line with the pattern. God’s work cannot be done in the flesh; it must be by His spirit. Attempting to do it according to the zeal of the flesh is what causes sickness, frustration, envy, jealousy, rivalry and anger. For instance, no one could contest Bezaleel, rather, he taught some people. And he was not in rivalry with any one. May the Lord fill us for purpose.

The tabernacle has two major courts; the inner and outer courts. In the outer court was the altar of burnt offering, while the inner court has the altar of incense. The inner court consists of two apartments; the holy place and holy of holies. The altar of incense was in the holy place together with the table of showbread and lamp stand. The holy of holies is the main thing of this tabernacle and all that was in it was the ark of testimony bearing the mercy seat; i.e. the mercy seat was laid on the ark of testimony in such a way that you will not know they were two different entities. This inner court is very important in our discussion because we are going to apply it to our spiritual lives eventually.

The Ark of testimony bore wheels made from four golden rings which made it to be able to be moved to anywhere. If it was to be moved, it must be covered with veil. The material for ark was wood overlaid with pure gold in and out, Exodus 25:10-12. The ark was to hold the testimony of God, which is the law as given to Moses.

Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”

The ark of testimony is the same as the Ark of the covenant. Please have the following in mind, the Ark was;

1. Made of wooden material.
2. Overlaid with pure gold
3. Having golden rings as wheels to move
4. Designed to hold the Book of the Law.

Which means, it was a mixture of wooden material and pure gold.

The mercy seat, on the other hand, was made of pure gold and two cherubs wrought one on each side of the mercy seat facing one another. This was placed on the Ark of testimony. It had the same base perimetral measurement as the Ark upon which it sits. The mercy seat and the ark of testimony are the most important of the holy of holies.

Exodus 25:21-22 “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

Attached to each end of the ark was a cherubim facing each other. The mercy seat has no mixture of wooden material with it; just pure gold and nothing else. Purity is the content of the material used for the mercy seat. This was God’s demand in the building of the mercy seat. If it was short of God’s specification, He wouldn’t come down to speak with Moses above it. This means, the mercy seat was the element to receive God between two cherubs whose wings were over the mercy seat. God will not commune in the Ark of testimony; it was meant for another thing. Only the MERCY SEAT receives God. These two entities, the Ark of testimony and the Mercy Seat must meet God’s specification or standard. As soon as the work of the tabernacle was completed, the glory of the Lord descended on it to the extent that none could enter the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:33-34 “And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

Please note that it was the cloud that covered the tent of the congregation while God’s glory filled the tabernacle. It is important for us to note this. (cloud represents the presence of the Lord and the glory is the grace that fills us.). They never moved until the glory and the cloud departs and this was usually after they had received instructions for direction for the walk and work with God.

What is the implication of this in our Christian walk and work with God? We need to break it down for us to understand this.

1. Outer court: representing our body
   1. Altar of burnt offering in the outer court represents out religious work outside our body. Sacrifices for our sinfulness
2. Holy place: representing our soul
   1. Altar of incense in the holy place represents our religious obligations such as giving and worship to God in our soul.
   1. Lamp stand is the written word of God, Psalm 119:130/ Matthew 5:15
3. The holy of holies
   1. Ark of testimony/ covenant is our heart; an aspect of our spirit which receives revelation, vision and the spoken word from God.
   1. Mercy seat is our spirit; an organ in man that receives God and communes with Him. Jesus says true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth.
   1. Cherubs is our faith; faith is a spiritual factor and it is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
   1. Glory of God is the out poured grace; only through God’s mercy
4. Cloud represents God’s presence.

The heart of man is not the same as the spirit of man. The spirit is the organ that receives the Spirit of God; that organ is what we use to commune with the Holy Spirit. When it was dead, we were dead spiritually and couldn’t receive from or communicate with God. But through salvation the spirit was revived. This spirit sits on the aspect of man called, the heart. The heart bears or carries the spirit of man and it is meant to hold the light (or revelation) received in the spirit of man. The spirit doesn’t store, the heart stores the revelation. In most cases, it was confused with the spirit of man, just as the mercy seat has the same base perimetral measurement with the ark of testimony. It has a mixture of wooden material and pure gold. The wooden material is a representation of our vulnerability. It can be attacked. Just as termites attacks wooden materials, so demons attack our hearts.

Psalms 24:4 “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

It is expected that the heart of man must be as pure as gold for genuine revelation, void of deceit and vanity; the hand not engaged in vain things and the heart not devising deceit.

That aspect of life is what demons go for to confuse us. Deep deliverance should aim at the heart. The best weapon of deliverance when it gets to that stage is the word of God. The Spirit of the uses the written word of God as sword for deliverance.

Mercy seat is, therefore, the spirit of man upon which God pours our His grace. This grace is the one that supplies power and light to the world. What we should cherish as Christians is grace. It comes by ensuring constant fellowship with God. Our relationship must be intact. This is what Christianity is all about. The mercy seat is the throne of grace. It is a spiritual thing; we worship in the spirit and fellowship in the spirit. We must first obtain mercy to find grace. Without mercy, there is no grace. Grace is the supply to meet our needs.

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

May the Lord give more of His grace in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN

Supo Abayode

MFM, Delaware, USA

Monday, February 5, 2019 Day 36

Exodus 34-36            THE SIN OF AARON

The first person to be consecrated after exit from Egypt in God’s holy order of service was Aaron and it was a ceremony. That was favor. He never prayed for it, neither did he fasted for it. It was the Lord’s choice. Technically, there were other people who were filled with the Spirit of God. They were only filled for the construction of the Tabernacle and not for the holy order. Such as Bezaleel who was assigned the construction work and others assigned to make the consecration garment, Exodus 28:3. But Aaron was filled with the spirit of the assignment of the holy order in service to the Lord as a covenant to his generation. Not one could do the work and be accepted before the Lord, except Aaron and his sons. Any other person will be regarded as a transgressor of the law and abomination to the holy order. It is therefore a wise thing for us to remain in that which we were called and not deviate.

1 Corinthians 7:20 “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.”

There is one thing we must know. Whatever God initiates will require the Spirit of God to interpret it. This includes your destiny. Your destiny is God’s blueprint for your life and you will need to have the Spirit of God in you to be able to read the blueprint. The devil will make serious efforts to debar you, but with the Spirit of God, you will win; Joseph won his own battle against the antagonists of the blueprint of his destiny by the spirit of God. He was the first person to bear the evidence of that Spirit after He was mentioned at creation in Genesis 1

Genesis 41:38 “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”

You may receive prophecies upon prophecies concerning your destiny, you will need the Spirit of God yourself to realize it. You must be born of the Spirit to receive the grace to be led.

Aaron was under pressure from the children of Israel. He suggested how to make the gods to them, Exodus 32:1-6. This grieved God for Aaron to use the grace given to him to raise an altar and addressed the molten image as the LORD. More grievous was the FEAST TO THE LORD. The origin of the FEAST TO THE LORD was God Himself. He initiated it as an ordinance at the Passover and to be kept as a memorial.

Exodus 12:14 “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.”

Therefore, Aaron sinned in these wise:

1. He was consecrated to the holy order after the construction of the Tabernacle, but he started earlier without the priests’ garment and without being commissioned.
2. He attributed an idol to God
3. He transferred the feast of the Lord to an idol.

Exodus 32:5 “And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.”

Exodus 32:35 “And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.”

Aaron was in trouble of the wrath of the Lord for leading the children of Israel to error. God wanted to destroy him, but the intercession of Moses saved him.

Deuteronomy 9:19-20 “For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also. 20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.”

You will be committing the sin of Aaron if you:

1. Have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and still hallowed other gods as equal to the living God.
2. Celebrate feasts to other deities.
3. Make sacrifices which you are told to do by some fake prophets.
4. Counsel the young in faith to error.
5. Minister out of the jurisdiction God has given you.
6. Visit any shrine and bow before any unholy deity.
7. Eat food sacrificed to idols.
8. Do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit; but you follow the voice of the people.

Luke 8:8 “And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit a hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Revelation 2:7 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

May the Lord open our inner ears for us to hear what the Spirit says in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN

Supo Abayode

MFM, Delaware, USA

Keep the fire of prayer burning on the altar of LOVE.

Monday, February 4, 2019 Day 35

Exodus 31-33            CONSECRATION

After exiting Egypt and crossing the Rea Sea, God wanted to set up His holy order for the children of Israel; a manner in which they had to serve Him in an acceptable. We should remember that the request from Pharaoh was that they should serve him.

Exodus 8:1 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.”

Sequence of events was as follows

1. God proved Himself as the all sufficient God. The request of the body was met to prove them.
   1. Quenched their thirst, and
   1. Satisfied their hunger.
2. They were sanctified.
3. The law was given; laws about
   1. Making an altar
   1. Servants
   1. Property
   1. Personal actions
   1. Sabbath
4. Covenant affirmation
5. Preparation for building the tabernacle and offering
6. Design of the tabernacle and its components
7. Design for the priest’s garment and consecration
8. Consecration of priests

Consecration is an event of transfer of nature. In explaining this, let’s look at an Airplane. It is designed with lots of functions in it. There are series of systems running in the plane. The co-working of these systems makes it to be its design. But the truth is that, not until the pilot sits and activates the systems and instructs the plane, even though passengers are seated in it, the plane will remain itself and go nowhere. In essence, the mind of the pilot is expressed through the systems and functions to make the plane perform the desire of the pilot. The pilot cannot fly by himself in the air; he needs the plane. The plane, on the other hand, cannot go anywhere by itself, it needs the mind of the pilot. The plane is, therefore, a vessel to convey the intention of the pilot. If the plane is faulty, the pilot will not fly. And if the pilot is not available, the plane remains dormant and inactive. But the pilot’s intention makes the business. The plane should be ready at all times. Readiness is what the pilot accepts before flying. The systems and functions are just like the desires and intentions of a man; they must be ready. In the case of the airplane, they are subject to the pilot’s directives. Everything about it is submitted to the will, intentions and desires of the pilot and it must continue, otherwise, they fall apart, Amos3:3. With this simple analogy, we can now talk of consecration.

Consecration is a service and not until one realizes he or she is a vessel, consecration becomes vague to such.

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

Our consecration starts with us realizing that we are just earthen vessels, just like the airplane. Though we have desires, intentions and wills, consecration changes the use of these attributes of us when they are submitted. Our submission for use is the personal consecration. As vessels, what occupies us gives value to us on earth. When God consecrates, He fills, occupies the vessel with His Spirit and expresses Himself through the vessel. What Spirit? The Spirit of the assignment; God’s assignment. By this His nature is transferred into us. As earthen vessels we have the right to live here on earth. But God, as Spirit, will need an earth vessel to operate and express Himself here on earth. The vessel is a sacrifice and, therefore, all the desires, intentions and wills must be laid on the altar and totally submitted for the use of the spirit filling us. Every consecration has its own basic and specific assignment.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

You may desire to be a pastor, for instance, and you start attending pastoral classes. And after graduation, you are giving a degree and decorated to wear collars and minister. The truth of it is that, you are only fulfilling your desire; it is not the same as consecration. You desire can change on the face difficulties or the hardship that follows answering the call.

Luke 14:26-33 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. … 33 So likewise, whoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

It is not by your desire, but by readiness to follow the will of the God who fills with the spirit of assignment. Do we say it is wrong to be a pastor? No! it is not wrong to be a pastor; the desire or motive may the wrong. The God who consecrates has the decision of what He wants to use you for. What then do we do? Good question. Readiness to make your walk with God perfect; build a genuine relationship with God.

Genesis 17:1-2 “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.”

The interaction between God and Abram was not based on Abram’s desire, intent and will but based on the fact that He wanted a vessel for His own desire, intention and will to be realized. And from the scripture, God demands Abram to submit all of him to His ways. Abram probably wanted to be something else in life. Jeremiah wanted to be something else in life. Moses wanted to be something else in life. But God has work to do and needed a vessel to get the work done. The qualified vessel must submit all of him/her to His will. He then fills the vessel with the spirit of the assignment. Abram was even ready to let his long-awaited son, Isaac, go, just to keep his relationship with God; he cherished that relationship so much as to be ready to lose everything to maintain it.

Hear this, beloved, whatever qualifies you for consecration must be retained to sustain you in the consecration, 1 Corinthians 7:20-24. If it is praying and bible study, you must continue in it after consecration experience. If it is charity work, continue in it. The most important thing is for you to continue in the consecration. In case of Abram, for instance, God said Abram should continue the maintenance of the consecration; he should not disconnect. The moment he starts to feel okay and treats the consecration with levity, he will begin to fall away.

Aaron and his sons were consecrated, not by their desires, but by divine ordination and sanctification. The basic purpose of consecration is to be set apart for specific work for God. Since it is void of your personal desire and wish, it means your relationship with God is the key to consecration.

Exodus 29:42-44 “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office.”

It is a continual sacrifice to the Lord. arguably, consecration is, therefore, the filling of a vessel with the spirit of the assignment.

Exodus 28:3 “And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.”

Exodus 31:2-3 “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,”

That spirit of assignment is the treasure that adds value to the earthen vessel.

2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Everything we do after genuine consecration must be of the Lord. He must be expressed through us and not us displaying our ability which leads to unacceptable rivalry, envy, jealousy and intimidation. Our pride, ego and arrogance must go and be replaced with submissiveness, humility and obedience. Everything that will draw us back from the course of the consecration must go.

The rich man asked Jesus what it takes to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus told the ruler of the conviction behind the ruler’s question or belief; obeying the commandments or, better put, his religion. But Jesus told him, that is good, but the real requirement was to do away with his pride, ego, self-confidence and other distractions and follow the Lord’s leading on daily basis. He was not ready to do that.

Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said to him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

Here, he had a desire. But the desire changed its route when an instruction was given to him. A man of desire cannot receive consecration. It is for a man of submission and obedience to divine leading. This is the more reason God instructed Moses that the Levites should have no allotted plot and that God is their inheritance. No distraction.

Deuteronomy 18:13 “Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.”

Beloved, the best grace is to be filled with the spirit of the assignment. This is the highest level of divine favor. Joseph had it which Pharaoh saw in him; no struggles.

May the Lord’s mercy advocate for our consecration in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN

Supo Abayode

MFM, Delaware, USA

Keep the fire of prayer burning on the altar of Love

Sunday, February 3, 2019   Day 34

Exodus 28-30            THE PRIEST AND HIS OFFICE

A Priest is an appointed person who has been officially conferred or granted the right to perform holy orders. The responsibilities of a priest are great. It will require a right (authority) to the office before this could be done, otherwise death is the risk.

Exodus 28:35 “And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.”

The right to:

1. The holy place
2. The holy things
3. The holy responsibilities

Holiness is God’s attribute and cannot be compromised. Because of the fall off man, sin and iniquity have been the wall between man and God’s presence. In Exodus 19:22, before the receiving of the Ten Commandment, the priests were requested to sanctify themselves before they could come before the Lord. As at that time, they operated without an office. All they did was to sanctify them; no ordination or consecration. For these to take place, God had to give Moses divine order to follow; an office had to be created. The symbol of authority is the garments and the inscription. That inscription acts as the identification card chip to access the holy of holies.

Exodus 28:36 “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.”

An office is a position given to a person to carry out a service with authority.

The responsibilities of a priest as given to Aaron are as follows:

1. To minister before the Lord, Exodus 28:1
2. To occupy and function in the capacity of errand boy to the prophets
3. To bear the names of the various groups of the congregation for a memorial, Exodus 28: 12.
4. To bear the judgment of the congregation upon his heart, a burden to pray for, Exodus 28:30.
5. To bear the iniquity of the holy things which are hallowed in their gifts. In other words, receive all the different offerings and make sacrifices of them; burnt offering, sin offering, etc.

Their garment is to be made by God had filled with His Spirit also so that they could bear the authority of heaven.

Exodus 28:2 “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.”

That heavenly authority is the glory of their calling. That is what secures them. Without that, any function in that capacity could result in dangerous venture. It becomes the mark on them to warn the rage from the dark kingdom.

One may have the zeal to minister before the Lord, the glory makes the difference between the zealous and the consecrated. The garments are referred to as holy garments. The holiness makes it to be a spiritual garment. Some have these spiritual holy garments on them even though they have not been ordained by man. Heaven still backs their services up in their humility.

Regarding priesthood, a priest can be,

1. Called by man
2. Call himself
3. Called by the congregation.
4. Called by Satan.

They can send priests out for assignments; the glory of the Lord makes the difference between the one having the heavenly approval and others.

Numbers 17:8 “And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.”

May the mark of the Blood of Jesus Christ be upon us for favor and protection in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Supo Abayode

MFM, Delaware, USA