Many of God’s generals have always made a difference in their nations and territories, and the hand of God has been with them in all the various stages of their journey. As we know, every seventy years there is an emerging new generation. This present generation seems to be the one that God is raising up in the midst of scarcity of vision and a multitude of sins. The Bible says, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Rom. 5:20, NIV). This can be likened to when God raised up Samuel and installed him in Eli’s place, or when God raised up David and established him instead of King Saul. There was no one else in Israel that God could talk to except young Samuel.
This child was set apart since he was in his mother’s womb. As Samuel grew up in the temple and devoted his life to God’s service, he grew in intimacy and favor with God. As he transitioned from a boy to a young man, he matured and expanded day by day in his knowledge of the presence of God.
Now imagine for a second how horrified and disgusted Samuel must have felt when he heard, in the middle of the night, how Eli’s sons brought young women into the temple and slept with them. As the Scriptures record, God was very disappointed with Eli’s poor leadership for allowing his family relationships to be more important than his relationship with God! God rejected Eli and chose Samuel over him to be the new priest and judge for God’s people over Israel.
Samuel was entrusted with great responsibilities as a priest, judge and prophet over the nation. God doesn’t trust these great tasks to anyone but to the ones who are willing to dwell in His presence! That’s the key to building a strong liaison with Him—trust is equivalent to time.
God is announcing the ushering in of a new priesthood to the world. Where are the Elishas who can take up the place and mantle of prophet, and where are the youths like David who can take the kingdom and reign? Where are the Samuels who can receive the revelation and are the priesthood of the new covenant? Where are the vessels that are willing to be molded? Where is the generation that is disposed to pay the price of the alabaster perfume to pour out upon Jesus’ feet?
God is seeking vessels of honor that He may trust with His glory. Good deeds don’t gain friendship with God. The beautiful intimacy we can have with God is the combination of Him trusting in us and Him depositing His glory in us as the result of this amazing friendship created on the basis of companionship. In this way, if God has confidence in you, He will deposit His glory and the perfume of His anointing into your heart; and if you are a good steward of His glory, He will continue increasing His glory in you. The Bible affirms that to him who is given much, much will be expected (Luke 12:48), which is the key to being a good steward of His glory.
Remember that occasion when the disciples of Jesus were trying to cast a demon out of a boy? The boy’s father came to Jesus very flustered and expressed his frustration after seeing that the disciples weren’t able to set free his child. After that, Jesus walked into the crowd and commanded the demon to leave the boy. The boy was set free and healed from that moment.
The disciples, with mixed feelings of puzzlement and bewilderment, were walking next to Jesus and as they were chatting and carrying on, one of them dared to break the silence and asked, “Jesus, why couldn’t we cast out the demon?” He then turned around and, with a firm yet gentle voice, replied, “This demon can’t be cast out except by prayer and fasting.” That’s it; that’s the key to being trusted with the supernatural! God wants to entrust you with His glory but He first wants to get to know you.
Prayer and fasting are the best ways to lay down our flesh and live in oneness with Him. Intimacy is one of the best ways to gain trust with your spouse. Intimacy fosters a good and healthy ground for marriage and thus produces a special trust between a couple as they get to know each other deeply in the marriage journey!
It is the same with God; the more time we spend with Him, the stronger the bond we have with Him. God desires for a generation of men and women who He can entrust with the richness of His glory! Would you want to be one? {eoa}
Pastor Alejandro Arias has been chosen to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. He was born in San Jose, Costa Rica and his ministry is based out of Orlando, Florida. Due to his amazing testimony and the fact that he has been preaching the gospel since he was a little boy (he was healed of a deadly and inoperable tumor at age eight), Alejandro has been preaching the Good News to thousands of people all over the world. Pastor Alejandro is passionate about revival and taking the message of healing and salvation to the four corners of the globe. Please visit his website at alejandroarias.org/ and tune into his podcast, Revival Now, on the Charisma Podcast Network.
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