ENCOUNTERING THE POWER FOR EXCELLENCE
The greatest teacher of all time is our Lord Jesus Christ. At age 12, He sat down with professors and leaders of the law asking them questions they could not answer, Luke 2:46-47. All through His lifetime and ministry, Jesus thought heavenly mysteries through parables, miracles, scriptures, and spiritual revelations.
The disciples of Jesus were the most privileged of His time as they followed Him step-by-step listening and learning for three (3) years. At the end of His ministry, the disciples would have thought that haven been with Jesus and gone through the exactitudes of his teaching, they were prepared to excel. They would have thought that the knowledge of the parables of Jesus was enough to excel like Him. But they were disappointed as they soon learned that they were more to excellence on this earth.
In Act 1:4-5, Jesus commanded His disciples saying, “… do not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” That baptism is the baptism of power for witness Acts 1:8. This witness is the act of reaching others beyond yourself through what you have received from God. This life of witness is the proof of excellence.
Unless the disciples received the power through the Holy Spirit, everything they have learned from Jesus would have died in them. The kingdom of darkness would have overthrown their conviction and messed them up with shame. Their three (3) years of training under Jesus would have been of no use.
Beloved, whatever advantage a man obtained in the pedigree of the human realm must be activated in the realm of the Spirit to produce excellence. The battle is not for the swift.
You can own a sling and stones like David, but without the Spirit of God, you still cannot kill Goliath with it. This is why there are many skilled and talented people without results, wasted and poor.
There is a mystery of power that activates excellence, which you must desire to encounter. This is the encounter with the Holy Ghost which Jesus commanded His disciples to wait and receive.
The Holy Spirit is the only executioner of the promises of God to you. He is the fire that refines the Gold.
To encounter this power, there are three steps you must take.
1. The first is the Conversion of your soul. This is an act of repentance from sin. Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
2. The second step is the Consecration of your life, Exodus 30:29. This is an act of separation to do that which pleases God with your life.
3. The third step is Commitment to become a witness through your life to proclaim the excellence of Christ in you to the world around you. Acts 1:8.
Pastor Isaac A. Ogazi