Saturday Motivation: Know Your Mandate!
Saturday Motivation with Yahwendy! Know Your Mandate!
Text: Habakkuk 2 v 2: “Then the Lord answered me and said; write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”
Introduction!
Without the influence of God, believers can never achieve their mandate nor fulfill their calling because they will never know what their mandate is in order to run with it.
Mandate! What does it mean?
A mandate is an official order or commission to do something.
A mandate is to give someone the authority to act in a certain way.
An example of a mandate is a state requiring all its schools to teach a particular curriculum.
What is our Mandate as believers?
As believers, we all have different gifts and callings and as such, we must know the mandate of God for our lives so that we can prioritize them in order to fulfill them.
Setting God’s mandate for our life in order of priority makes it easier for us to run with the vision and accomplish them. (Habakkuk 2 v 2) says: “Then the Lord answered me and said; write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it”.
The interpretation of Habakkuk 2 v 2 is that; we cannot know our mandate without asking from God and we cannot run with it, if we do not write it down.
Our Mandate as believers;
Mandate No.1: Know Who You Are:
Genesis 1 v 28: makes us to understand who we are in Christ. It says; “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
As believers, we are born to rule. We are born to be fruitful to multiply and to dominate in all areas of life and destiny.
Mandate No.2: Be Holy:
Romans 12 v 1: begs us to live in holiness. It says; “I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service (mandate).
Mandate No.3: Be Bold & Ready:
As believers, we cannot fulfill our mandate if we are timid and afraid. We must be bold and ready to do God’s Will. We must be ready to begin and continue to run with our God given mandate. Isaiah 6 v 8; “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, here I am! Send me!”
The above Scripture is a call to fulfil our God given mandate of winning innumerable souls to God’s kingdom. It is a call to go and deliver the good news message of the Lord to souls that are perishing out there. It is a call to serve.
Mandate No.4: Be filled with the Holy Spirit and with power!
In order to fulfill our God given mandate, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and with power. We cannot fulfill our God given mandate in the flesh because the bible already made it clear to us that by strength shall no man prevail.
Acts 1v 8 admonishes us this way; “But you shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth”.
This simply means that we are not limited by space, time and circumstances. We must not remain in one position but we must widen our horizon and be a soul winner in different places and different platforms all over the world.
Mandate No.5: Prayer (Be an intercessor)
As believers, one of our important mandates is to spend time in the place of prayer. However, our prayers should not be limited to us alone or to our family members, or to our friends. The scriptures encourage us to pray for our Nation, our leaders, our enemies, our communities, our street, and the world in general.
We are not supposed to be stingy or selfish in the place of prayer. Let`s look at some scriptures to buttress this point;
1 Timothy 2 v 1: “First of all, I urge you that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people.”
Ephesians 6 v 8: “Praying at all times, in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with perseverance, making supplication for all the saints”.
Matthew 5 v 44: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”.
Luke 22 v 32: “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers”.
Ezekiel 22 v 30: “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none”.
Numbers 12 v 13: “And Moses cried to the Lord, O God! Please heal her, please!”
Mandate No.6 Be a Blessing
As believers, we are to lend a helping hand to the poor and needy in society. We are to share our wealth with others. We are to lift others up and not spend unnecessarily or on irrelevancies. Rather than going on exotic vacations and building our treasure here on earth, scriptures encourage us to build our wealth in heaven where moth or rust cannot destroy it for where our treasure is, that’s where our heart will be.
Let’s look at some bible verses on this mandate;
Matthew 5 v 3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
Job 20 v 10: “His sons favor the poor, and his hands give back his wealth.”
Matthew 25 v 34-46: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, come you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the righteous will answer Him saying, Lord, when did we see you sick or in prison, and come to you? And the King will answer and say unto them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
Then they also will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you. Then He will answer them saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of this, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
How can we fulfill our mandate successfully?
- By focusing on God:
Isaiah 26 v 3: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in You.”
Colossians 3 v 2: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.”
The purport of the above scriptures is that we should not allow situations or circumstances around us to hinder us from focusing on our God given mandate. We must not be moved by what we see. We must be moved by the power of God and persevere in the calling in which He has called us. - Act upon your Mandate from God:
Rather than putting our mandate in the cooler or bottling it up, we must act on it. We cannot fulfill our God given mandate if we refuse to do His will or if we are living in disobedience. If we love God genuinely, we must obey Him.
Luke 6 v 46 says: “But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? - Be a good example to others:
Matthew 5 v 13: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
We must never forget who we are in Christ and as such we must be good examples to our family, friends, community and the world at large. We must remember that we are the mirror that some people look at and emulate. We must therefore never be conformed to the standard of this world no matter what may come our way, but we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the word of God. - Let your light shine before others:
Matthew 5 v 16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”. - Follow God`s example:
Ephesians 5 v 1-2: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet- swelling aroma”.
The above scripture is a call to love everyone like ourselves. We should stop discriminating because our God is a God of love and unity. We must co-exist together in unity because we are stronger in our diversity. - Live by Godly principles:
Romans 12 v 2: “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
We cannot live below the standards set down by our heavenly Father, to do so is disobedience. - Live a righteous life:
Romans 12 v 1: “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship”.
We must live a holy life and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. We must avoid sin and iniquity which always leads to a fall from grace. - Be a role model:
Titus 2 v 7: “Show yourself in all respect to be a model of good works and in your teaching, show integrity and dignity”.
Our word must always be our bond. We must be truthful at all times and walk in integrity. We must remember that the devil is a liar and the father of it.
Let us pray!
Prayer 1: O Lord my Father, let me know my mandate so that I can run with it
Prayer 2: O Lord my Father, equip me with the grace to fulfill my God given mandate
Prayer 3: O Lord my Father, equip me with the grace not to fail in the fulfillment of my God given mandate, in Jesus Mighty Name! Amen!
Trillion Amen!
Shalom!