UNDERSTAND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY Ultimately, God’s Sovereignty is involved in how, when and why things happen in our lives and on earth. What needs to be understood is the combination of our responsibility with the Sovereignty of God. God has chosen that His Word working with His Spirit is the way for whatever He wants to be accomplished. The third vital factor is the Human Being who believes, agrees and participates for God’s will to be done. The interplay of these three factors, the Word, the Spirit and the man, is major in seeing God’s will accomplished in our lives. Man has been given responsibility for whatever will come to pass within his sphere of authority. Psalm 8 1 O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and 9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! God has delegated His authority to man and within the context and boundaries involved God has chosen not to do things until a human being requests, prays or desires it to be done. There are things that are within our sphere of responsibility that can be done to activate Heaven’s intervention in our situation. Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 prayed and offered the ’normal’ offerings and she did not seem to get results. When she offered the son back to God before he was born, God responded to her! She vowed to give and after prayers changed her countenance. The centurion in the book of Acts, chapter 10; His prayers and alms (gifts), he gave towards the Jewish worship of God, resulted in Angelic visitation with an instruction. He prayed and gave! Hannah did a similar thing, prayed ad vowed to give! Throughout the bible, scriptural giving has always attracted spiritual intervention. In Matthew 6, Giving, Praying and Fasting were discussed as our responsibilities towards God and concerning the needs we have. These are seen as ‘normal’ for all God-worshippers. The special instruction that govern each is centered around expecting rewards from God, not to impress people. God sees in secret and rewards openly. The rewards will include, needs being met as well as any other rewards from God for the sacrifice made. Psalm 126:5-6 5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. This talks about sowing in tears and reaping in joy. Bearing seed for sowing includes praying and giving. Scriptural giving activates scriptural intervention. Many have testimonies of results of prayer and fasting. Some fast for days, plead for heaven’s intervention and they get the results. Giving is another avenue we can explore sacrificial giving can also move heaven to intervene. Fasting, praying and giving are all our responsibilities. What we use them for, our motives and focus are all part of how we understand to engage them. We need to be under government of the Spirit of God so we can be led to do any of these or all of them. The point is we should do all these things to enhance our receiving from God. Rev. Kola Ewuosho
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