Required

1 Peter 4:¹⁰ “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (NIV, emphasis added).

We will start today by looking at the flip side of the story from yesterday. What if instead of staying at home, the young man chooses to go to church knowing God has said do not forsake the assembly of the brethren. He goes armed with the understanding that his gift is not primarily for his benefit. Yes, it will be beneficial to him but primarily it is for God’s people. Then God brings someone his way in church. He feels the prophetic anointing, greets the person, and just speaks. He does not necessarily have to say anything spooky or say, ‘Thus says the Lord’. He just says, ‘Have a great week’, that is a prophetic declaration. Maybe God has shown him that the person is going to struggle that week. But him declaring ‘Have a great week’, breaks the back of it.

Similarly, the finances and resources you have are not your own. If you use it for yourself alone, you will find out that it will deplete and that is guaranteed! But when you know that your resources are beyond you, heaven will say, ‘Now, we are talking’. Every fruit-producing tree produces fruit for others to eat. Have you ever seen a tree eating its own fruit? Imagine seeing a mango tree plucking its own fruit, what will you do? But that is the picture a lot of us are depicting in our lives.

1 Corinthians 4:² “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” (NIV, emphasis added). It is required in stewardship that a man should be found faithful. Talent is like a muscle, the more you use, stretch, and exercise the muscle, the stronger it becomes. If you do not use the muscle it atrophies, breaks down, and you lose the strength. Your talent and your resources are designed to be stretched and used so that they can grow stronger and stronger. Whatever you use wisely, God gives you more of it. If you use your time wisely, to serve other people, God will give you more time. How can God give me more time, you ask, when there are only twenty-four hours in a day? God can give you more time in several ways.

God can extend and give you time on earth. Some people’s time is up but because of the value they bring, God is extending their time. It is in the scriptures; an example is the story of Tabitha in Acts 9:36-43 (please read). God can give you more time in the twenty-four hours window such that you can achieve in twenty-four hours what will take others seventy-two hours to achieve. It is possible, God can compress it for you in time. God can give you more time by reversing your biological clock from forty back to twenty. He is God, no one can question Him.

Prayer: Father, the capacity to be found faithful, give unto me, in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!