Apostle Grace Lubega
Acts 8:1 (KJV) And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Sometimes persecution comes into the life of a Christian because they are doing nothing with the impartation they received from the Spirit of God.
In the book of Acts, God instructed the disciples that once the Spirit was come upon them, they were to preach the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. When many tarried in Jerusalem, persecution came. This persecution came to scatter them because of the complacency they were yielding to. This complacency undermined divine purpose and the advancement of the gospel.
There are Christians who find circumstances against them because they have refused to move in the manifestation of the things that God has continually taught them, they have refused to exercise themselves in the knowledge they have received.
Hands were laid upon them and graces released into their spirits but they did nothing about these impartations. They did not walk out in faith to do the things spoken over their lives, they did not seek the mind of God pertaining to how they can increase and grow in these kinds of anointing, and they did not own these impartations but instead assumed that things would randomly fall into place.
There are consequences of neglecting the gift in you that you received by prophecy and the laying on of hands by the presbytery.
They may bind all kinds of demons and seek deliverance from all kinds of men of God. But, the sooner they understand the reason for their plight, the quicker they are delivered. These are called the tests of a minister.
FURTHER STUDY: 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6
GOLDEN NUGGET:
Sometimes, persecution comes into the life of a Christian because they are doing nothing with the impartation they have received from the Spirit of God. Like the early church, persecution was pertinent to scatter them for the advancement of the gospel.
PRAYER: Father, I thank you for this knowledge; it stirs up the gift that is in me. I am functioning in what I have received and it is working mightily through me. I can never be complacent in the things of the Spirit because when I received of the Word, it became as a fire in my bones. It has consumed every faculty of my reasoning, my emotions, my sentiments, my aspirations and my desires. It causes me to spend and be spent for the sake of the gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.