FEATURE ARTICLE

Gbenga OwotokiMonday, November 4, 2013
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Florida, USA

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MAN OF GOD! WHERE IS GOD'S GLORY?

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he scripture makes it succinctly clear that He will not share His glory with any man. God shares His love, power, grace, mercies and all other great blessings with His people but there is something He will never share with man and that is His glory. Unfortunately, some Pastors and people in ministry have taken the place of God and have usurped the glory that is due to God. It is a terrible thing to take the glory that is meant for the Lord.

Dear Man of God, no matter how anointed you are, when you create an impression amongst your flocks that the problem of their lives ends with you then you are putting yourself in the place of God in their lives. You put the people under 'lock and key' and you manipulate them at will. You have sermonized and taught them to be more dependent on you and less dependent on God even though you don't admit to this. God cannot compromise His glory, in the old and new testaments, people paid dearly for usurping the glory that belongs to God. When you fail to realize that God is the source of all that you are today, then you are treading on a thin line and heading to your doom. Your life and ministry is hanging on a balance.

Remember the days when you started in ministry; how humble and how lowly in heart you are. How you will pray and seek the face of God tirelessly knowing fully well that He is your backbone. When people want to help you with your bible and stand as your 'armor bearer' you maintained your demeanor refusing to be cajoled to do likewise. You made up your mind not to be bamboozled by the pressures of ministry and lower the standard of the Word of God. You were a truth soldier and your motto was 'others may but I cannot.' Then the Lord began smiling on you, your diligence and labor in ministry began to experience a turn around. Before you know it, you moved the church to another bigger space. Things changed dramatically for you and mighty works were being wrought through you.

Then gradually, you get overwhelmed by the successes that have greeted the ministry. Prayer time begins to drop or even vaporized completely. You scoop the inspiration and knowledge of other men to move 'stuff' on the pulpit as compared to when you hear directly from God. Now, you have an 'armor bearer' who takes off your coat for you, put your shoes on your feet, stand behind you when you minister, wipes your sweat from your brow as you stand on the pulpit, if it were possible, he could carry you to the podium if you so desire. The flesh begins to over-ride the Spirit. You begin to lose your sight of God and see yourself in His place. Unfortunately, you are in denial just like Samson that the Spirit of God has departed from you. You think since the Miracle still happens and the men pleasers we surround ourselves with always gives us the thumbs up then all is well. That's why most often I think the pulpit is one of the subtle routes to hell. You may be on the path to hell and may never know it.

The modern day church has drifted. A lot of practices that are alien to the church has been introduced in a bid to be millennium compliant. You hear phrases like 'the world is changing and as a result the church must step up her game too,' it has become a rat race, the church competing to become like the world but the world drifting far from the reach of the church. Now, don' t misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong if the church introduces changes that will help with accomplishing her mission but this should not mean adapting ungodly method all in the name of expanding our reach.

What has happened to you Man of God, you now put a price tag on the gifts that God has graciously bestowed on you. If an invitation to preach does not include a first class ticket, 5 Star hotel (or even higher), expensive continental dishes to be prepared for you and categorically stating what your honorarium should be otherwise you won't honor such invitation. Some will even tell you to your face that you cannot afford them. They reject invitations that will not pay them more and accept those they are sure of the financial outcome. They have failed to realize that God made them who they are and He knows every motive behind our actions. That's why I believe there will be a lot of surprises on the final day.

My dear Pastor, "Let him that thinks he stands, take heed let's he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). Make every conscious effort to glorify God before the people. Moses suffered for this. God will not lower His standard, if He did not do same for Moses who was considered the meekest man on earth in his time. My deepest prayer has been, ' having done all, to be found standing.' The Lord will help us all. Bless you.

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