WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,

Ephesians 1:18 NIV

We are called to sonship with God. As children of the most High, we are associates of God- kind as well as the same substance with God, because Christ is in us, we are in Christ and Jesus in God. Christ is our head in heaven and we are his body on earth, we represent him on earth, we don't live for ourselves, rather we live for him.

Based on this, we function as light and salt of the world just as Christ was when He was on earth. We display God's excellence, virtues and splendor to the world. That is why we should eliminate fear because we are one body with Christ. He is the Vine we are the branches and the Father is the Gardener, watching over us.

Our lifestyle should be different from those that are not called into sonship with God. The same way the disciples were called christians because of their unique lifestyle, so also the world should see our lifestyle and praise God.

So , let's not harbor fears, for God is making a name for himself through us, that is why He created us in Christ as his masterpiece so we can do this work He had planned for us before the foundation of the world.

Remember, "God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO DO THE GOOD WORKS FOR WHICH GOD CALLED US TO DO, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS II

HAVE YOU FOUND THE MESSIAH ?

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

John 1:41 NIV

Messiah is gotten from the Hebrew word "Mashiach" meaning the " Anointed one"

The Christ, the savior, anointed to save. Isaiah 61:1 spoke about him "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

He is the one that has the Spirit of God without measure.( Jn 3:34) When we were baptized into Christ, we received Christ, the Anointed one, that is we received the Spirit of God without measure just as Jesus .That explains why Jesus said "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

That is why the Bible says "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority". (Col 2:9‭-‬10) It is in him we are complete. This explains why the Lord sent us out confidently.

Acts 10:38 tells us that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him". The same way God wants us to use our anointing and power to do work on earth. Let's not put it in a safe deposit till the coming of Christ, just as in the parable of the talents.

This is the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.(Col 1:26‭-‬27) So we have to make our light be a disturbance, for it is when the world see your light and glorify God, that it becomes a disturbance to the enemy.

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO DO THE GOOD WORKS FOR WHICH GOD CALLED US TO DO, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

C) WE DISPLAY HIS GLORY

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

John 12:27 NIV

Have you ever asked why God kept us on earth, even after we were redeemed ? God wants us to be his witness on earth, witness to his goodness. In Genesis 1:31 " God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!" Ps 104:31 says "May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works"

Our duty on earth is to make sure that the Lord rejoices in his work, the enemy does not want God to rejoice in his labor. "We display his excellence and glory" We make sure that unithe glory of God endures forever, as it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall it be, world without end.

Brothers and sisters, our heavenly Father is a good God, He is all about good, Our earthly circumstances does not define who God is. "He is light in him there is no darkness"

Psalms 119:64 says "The earth, O Lord , is full of Your loving kindness and goodness"

It is our duty to spread this good news to the ends of the earth, Yes!

That is why we are the light and salt of the earth. The Lord lights us and we in turn light the world. Remember, We are bought with a price, we are not on our own anymore but on Jesus payroll. Habakkuk 2:14 says "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord , As the waters cover the sea.

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO DO THE GOOD WORKS FOR WHICH GOD CALLED US TO DO, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

D) INSTRUMENTS OF GOOD WORKS

But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised. - Deuteronomy 9:3

Brothers and sisters, the Lord has subdued this world for us, our calling is to conquer and inherit the earth which God gave us right from creation.(Ps. 115:16) Our mindset should be that no matter the challenges we face, sin has been wiped out, the enemy is subdued, our own part is to conquer.

That is why, though the bible says "God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. (Ephesians 1:22). It also said "The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”Psalms 110:1

It is through us that He puts the enemy under his feet, that is our calling as children of God. Every situation we are in, we believe that God has subdued, our own duty is to conquer. How do we conquer? it is by faith. "For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith."1 John 5:4

Through Faith, we rebuke with authority anything that is contrary to the will of God.

Titus 2:15 says "Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you."

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO DO THE GOOD WORKS FOR WHICH GOD CALLED US TO DO, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

E) SOUL HARVESTERS

But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.- Deuteronomy 9:3 NLT

The Lord said "For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”John 4:37‭-‬38

The Lord has done the work of salvation all by himself, as we know, He fights his own battle. Our own part is to harvest the work our Father has done. The enemy is paralyzed, the captives freed, our duty is to spread this good news to all creatures and lead them into their inheritance.

This is our calling, we are on the Lord's payroll as his kings and priests so we have to do our duty. St Paul said "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

(Acts 20:24)

The Lord said "As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.

(Ezekiel 34:12) You notice He said "As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep". Jesus is in and among his sheep now, He is gathering through us.

Remember we are his righteousness, the Lord enforces his righteousness on earth through us. The Lord said "For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." -Is 61:11

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO BE SOUL HARVESTERS TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

F) PARTNERS WITH JESUS

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”- John 21:15 NIV

Think of this, what is it in life that can prevent us from working with Jesus ? Is it money, work, house, family?. Imagine how the apostles abandoned everything for the sake of the work of God, the work of salvation we are enjoying today.

The Lord said “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:24‭-‬26

Brothers and sisters, as far as this world is concerned, we are dead to it and alive in Christ. Romans 6:13 says " offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life" We are at the tail end of this world, what is in this world that we cannot give up just for the sake of Jesus.

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO BE PARTNERS WITH JESUS TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

G) WE ARE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”- John 9:4‭-‬5 NIV

Why do you think the Lord kept us in this world? Have you thought of how the world will be If the Lord takes us away from the world? The world would be in darkness.

We are the body of Jesus Christ on earth. Jesus is the head in heaven, the same light that is in the head is in the body. So we still reflect the same light of Jesus as if He is in the world. Thats is why the Lord said in our text "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

For this reason the Lord hasn't taken his body, the church out of the world yet. Remember in Genesis 1:31, God saw that the world He created is good. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world so much that He sent his light to bless the world.

"Just as my Father sent me I sent you", Therefore while we are in the world we must do the work of Christ who sent us. The work of blessing, preserving the world He created till He comes again.

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO DO THE GOOD WORKS FOR WHICH GOD CALLED US TO DO, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE LIGHT 2

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” - John 9:5 NIV

Brothers and sisters, we have received Jesus in our lives. Jesus does not preserve the world, we do, for He is not the salt of the earth, we are. He is not the light of the world, we are, He is our own light and our own salt. Jn 1:4 says In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. That is why Isaiah 60:1 says "Arise, shine; For your light has come!"

The Lord does not reconcile the world anymore, we do, for He gave us that ministry of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5:18) We are God's masterpiece recreated in Jesus for good works. Now our Light has come, we don't fold hands and watch, rather we arise and shine.

The truth is that, Just as God was in Jesus reconciling the world to himself, so also Jesus lives in us and reconciling, preserving and bringing light to the world through us. We are just the instruments.That is why we don't look at our human limitations. Because "He who lives in us does his own work", our duty is to proclaim the word and He confirms it. Remember, when Moses lifted his rod, the power of God was displayed.

That's why the Bible says "And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.(Mark 16:20) And in another place it says 'Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.,(Acts 14:3)

2Pet 1:4 tells us that we are associates of God-kind, partakers of his divine nature. We share profits and losses. Our duty is to decrease in our human reasoning and attachment to this earthly life, so that his life in us will increase. Remember, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:25‭

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

H) VINEYARD KEEPERS

When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground,- Genesis 2:5 AMPC

In Genesis 1:26 " God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.

Imagine a city without law enforcement, how lawless and disorderly it will be. One of the reasons God kept us in this world He created and loved so much " For God so loved the world", is for us to maintain his righteousness, orderliness on earth.

Brothers and Sisters, we are the righteousness of God in Christ, that is the highest rank and order in this age and ages to come. Whether we know this or not, the enemy world is threatened by our presence. Just as we conform upon seeing a police officer, so also the enemy sees our presence and backs off.

When I say our presence, I mean our presence in the spiritual realm. Man is a spirit and must participate in the spiritual. As long as we remain at the human level, the enemy loves us and will keep us busy with the worries and wants of this world, but once we clock in the spiritual, he trembles with fear, and starts to instill fear in us just to discourage us.

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO GROW IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR CALLING TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

I) HOLY KINGS

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Ephesians 1:5 NLT

If you are having a baby, you don't choose the characters, but in adoption you choose the baby based on the desired characters you want. All of us are not perfect in one way or the other, but God chose us to be kings and placed us in Christ where all his desired characters are. That is why "we are complete in Christ". Without him we are worth nothing.

Why are we chosen in Christ, why Christ?

The Scripture says "God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth". -Ephesians 1:9‭-‬10

Christ is composed of two distinct parts- the Head and the body. Jesus is the head and we, the church is the body. So We are adopted into Christ to reign with Jesus, that is, to reign over everything in heaven and earth! Now we can see God's will for us his beloved children, So let's persevere. As the Bible says "God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."- 1 Corinthians 1:9

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE PERSEVERE SO AS TO DO THE GOOD WORKS FOR WHICH GOD CALLED US TO DO, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

WE ARE CALLED FOR GOOD WORKS

J) WE ARE A BLESSING

O you sons of men, how long will you turn my honor and glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and futility and seek after lies? Psalm 4:2 AMPC

God told Abraham "...you shall be a blessing….; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”(Genesis 12:2‭-‬3 ) How many of us have activated this feature in us. We should not be asking God to bless us, for we are already a blessing. We have all the blessings in this world and in the world to come (Eph 1:3)

Just because we are united with Jesus, we are already operating from the throne of blessing. Our focus should be on others as seeds of Abraham "And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed". In Zech 8:13, God made us "a symbol and a source of blessing."

Let's use this period of lent to ask God for the grace to activate this great feature in us. In our families, workplaces, churches and anywhere we find ourselves, we can ask God to make them a symbol and source of blessing to others. We can bless the day, our cars, houses or anything belonging to us and others.

Job 42:10 says "When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! The only way to activate this feature is believe we can bless, then start blessing.

Brothers and sisters, God loves the world He created so much, that is why He wants us to bless the world. He said "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.

Ezekiel 34:26

WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER IN JESUS NAME AMEN!

THANK YOU JESUS!

K)

BE ZEALOUS FOR THE LORD

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

Matthew 11:12 NKJV

We have to be very zealous for Jesus and his gospel. This is really good news, imagine Almighty God born as a baby in a manger just to make us gods and his children. St Paul said that this is "the promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. Acts 26:7

It is to this zeal that, Zacheus not minding his size and sinful nature climbed a huge sycamore tree to see Jesus. Elisha had to follow Elijah persistently so as to get double portion of his anointing. Ruth refused to part with Naomi untill she married Boaz, and now counted in the genealogy of Jesus.

St Paul said, "My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:24 ) Are you Zealous for the work of God? or are you yielding to the challenges that come with it.

The gospel of Jesus is challenged because it is good news, so we have to face the challenges that come with it so as to own the mystery. St Paul said "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, -Romans 1:16

Consider something good as holy communion, a food God the Father placed his seal of approval on, a food that makes us who we are. This food sustains God's life in us. Look around the world, Christians are most persecuted. Why? because Christ lives in us, and they hate God so much. As the Lord said "they hated both Me and My Father.- John 15:24

Let's be zealous for the Lord this year

THANKSGIVING

BLESSED ARE YOU GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US IN JESUS AND THEY ARE MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT!

THANK YOU JESUS!