As the Father has Sent Me

STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

As the Father has Sent Me

Thursday, 31 October

 

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: John 17:1-22 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

 

MORE LESSON: Mark 16:14-15 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

 

Jesus’ resurrection is an opportunity for the Church to manifest glory. It's wrong to sit and mourn Jesus' death. What will you do with the post resurrection power? The agenda of God after resurrection is for the Church to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons and ensure that the enemy is made the footstool of the Body of Christ. This is why the Bible says, in Psalms 110:1, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Here God is referring to Jesus; God's desire is to see that the enemy is beneath the feet of even the least in the Kingdom. Heavens rejoiced after the disciples began to manifest the power of God in them.

There is power in you and Heaven is waiting for you to do something with it. The post resurrection power is for the manifestation of the sons of God. Until we do, it we are just gathering in church and fellowships for nothing. You don't call your pastor when the enemy is striking; you first deal with it before calling him. Jesus has already resurrected and the next person to resurrect now is you. Resurrect from your cold Christian life (Mark 16:15–18). You are activated for signs and wonders. The grace upon your life should not be under-utilized.

All that the Father endowed Jesus with to enable Him fulfil His assignment has been given to us too. This is why Jesus confidently said that, as the Father has sent Him, so He sent the disciples. Also after He resurrected, just before He ascended to heaven, he said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen: Matt. 28:18-20.

God does not send a man for a job He has not equipped him for. This therefore means that for Jesus to make such commands, He had already given all that was needed. He understood that they needed power to carry out the assignment and that there would definitely be challenges so He asked them to wait until they had received power. When that happened on the day of Pentecost, the disciples stepped out and the world is yet to recover from all that they did. You and I are products of their exploits because if they messed it up, there would have been nothing like Christianity today.

That same power has been passed to us and we must use it to bring the world to the obedience of Christ. We must not allow the grace of God in our lives to be of no effect. I encourage you to labour more and put to use the power that the death of Jesus has made available to us.

 

Prayer/Action

* Pray in the Holy Ghost for at least ten minutes. 

* Command the grace and glory of your life to begin to manifest. 

* Terminate every thing that is stopping your light from shining and bringing glory to God.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Hallelujah to the Lamb of God who sits upon the throne without limits. October is done gloriously.