Ephesians 3: 1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles. 2 assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. 3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. 4 As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.
The enemy has taken the apathetic spirit that is evil and broadened its effect to the point that it has crossed over into the realm of those called by God. I hear someone say that we are all called and I can quickly see they are coming from the thinking that makes this calling a group activity. God does draw the called together as His church, but like Paul, we all have a special responsibility that is unique to each of us. The enemy uses the "wisdom" of the world to try to keep that unique calling from being pursued by the believer. We should never water down what God has intended and called each of us to in a very intimate way. Believe it or not, you have a special responsibility just like Paul.
Sadly, believers minimize this special responsibility by using a "humble" type of reasoning. You will hear this speech come across like this "God doesn't need me to do His work." God not needing us is a "given" in the overall truth of things. Fine-tuning God's calling on our individual lives is not something we should minimize by using such verbiage. The way this special responsibility works is amazing and when we focus on what it is we begin to see that it is far-reaching and powerful. In verse 10 of Ephesians, Paul tells about what happens when God takes all of those who know God's calling in their life and mobilizes them. Verse 10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. The rich variety of the church is God using all the ways He has uniquely called each person connected with others to grow His church and the Holy Spirit is the one who gives the power.
The enemy hates this attitude. The attitude of finding your "true" calling or special responsibility in the kingdom is feared by him because that is the sleeping giant (the church) awakened and serving as never before. The enemy's best way to stop it is to stop you. Don't let him stop you. Raise up and ask God how he wants you to serve and He will show you. If you have been serving already in that capacity then keep serving with more fervency. Paul's special responsibility was to take the gospel to the Gentiles and God blinded him to what his present life calling was and then showed Ananias his special responsibility. Ananias laid hands on him and he was able to see with a new vision, and the rest is history. To realize your special responsibility you probably will need to be blinded to a life of apathy and indifference and then get your sight renewed to see your calling in a new way!! Kinda scary, but very cool, and powerful!
Don't despair because God is always telling His children to deny the world and glorify Him. What better way than to fulfill the Special Responsibility He has given you? Reject the world's way of thinking and let God's Word permeate your life at your core. That is your Special Responsibility.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
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