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