Occupy

GOD will give the best to those who leave the choice to him — Jim Elliot.

So how you manage the moment will be a testament to how you'll occupy it.

PETER and JOHN occupied it well when they were threatened and released. They returned to their company and told them what the chief priests and elders had said to them.

They all raised their voices and said: O Sovereign Lord [having complete power and authority], it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them.

Who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said,

‘Why did the nations (Gentiles) become arrogant and rage, and the peoples devise futile things [against the Lord]? (Acts 4:24-25)

They knew that the chief priests' and elders’ words were antithetical to the gospel, so they asked God for boldness to preach His word.

Bible

THE APOSTLES asked God to intervene and help them occupy the place he had called them to.

They knew that God never leaves anything he has formed empty, so they waited for God to fill them.

And as they did, where they met shook, they were filled with God’s Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness and courage. (Acts 4:31)

If you want to work your season as intended, it must be about him. If God does not tell you to move, you do not move.

PAUL and his companions did not move until God told them to do so.

They had travelled through Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in Asia.

When they tried to enter Bithynia, the Holy Spirit did not allow them to.

But when Paul had a vision of a man begging them to come to Macedonia, they concluded that God had called them to go there. (Acts 16:6-10)

IF YOU’RE going to please God, you have to be led by Him.

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

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THE APOSTLES were led by God; they were not conformed to the norms of their time but transformed by the word they were called to share. (Romans 12:1)

To occupy where God has called you, there must be a transformation.

FROM the point of revelation (encounter) to the place of manifestation, there must be a process of transformation.

And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

THE BELIEVERS knew that God's creative work happens when you walk in obedience.

Paul reiterated this when he said, I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)

If you want God to use you, you must be as holy as he is and trust Him with your life.

'From the point of revelation (encounter) to the place of manifestation, there must be a process of transformation'

SHADRACH, Meshach and Abednego trusted God with their lives when they refused to bow to the molten image, and God honoured their faith by saving them. (Daniel 3:14-25)

Jesus joined them in the fire. He gave the best to them because they left the choice to him.

If you’re going to work your life as planned, you must allow God to author it.

JOHN the BAPTIST allowed God to author his life. He was kingdom-minded.

He knew that his occupation was to advance the kingdom.

So when people came seeking him, he told them that the one who would come after him would be greater than him.

He said, He (Jesus) must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease. (John 3:30-35)

Consequently, Jesus called him the greatest. (Luke 7:28)

IF YOU want to be relevant, find your place in God—and when people see your occupation, they’ll see your value.

King Nebuchadnezzar saw Daniel’s occupation and said, “Surely your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” (Daniel 2:46-47)

Creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

Final Thoughts

A person chosen by God cannot be chosen by men.