The Divine Order

The clear and compelling call of the New Testament is that as believers, we have been rescued from darkness and brought into light to be a “royal priesthood” to a lost world. We are to declare God’s praises and we ourselves engage the enterprise of priestly ministry that intercedes for and seeks to win lost humanity.

But, we must follow in the Divine Order. First, we ourselves must be holy, focused and spiritually empowered. Aaron was instructed to make atonement for his sins first, then later to atone for the sins of the people. Jesus taught that one must remove the beam from their own eye and secure proper personal focus before attempting to perform spiritual eye surgery on another. And, He ordered the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they were empowered with the Holy Spirit before attempting world evangelization.

Could it be that our efforts are so fruitless because we have neglected the Divine Order? Have we attempted to intercede for others, experiencing ineffectual results because we have failed to first place ourselves on the altar and be thoroughly cleansed and set apart? Have we found our attempts to help correct others to be weak at best and actually detrimental at worst because we ourselves have not first secured our own proper spiritual focus in prayer? And, have we been discouraged by our impotent efforts of evangelism because we have failed to ourselves be filled with the Holy Spirit?

May we place ourselves on the altar to be cleansed, directed and empowered!