Subject: Weekly (Sunday) Column
Title of Column: Redemption Outreach from the Diaspora
Columnist: Pastor Sam Adelusimo, Resident Pastor, RCCG Chapel of Praise, Northwest Arkansas, United States of America.
Welcome to the column, Redemption Outreach from the Diaspora, which, by the grace of God, shall be coming to you in this reputable news journal every Sunday. I hope it blesses and ministers to your spirit person and that it manifests in your daily success and happiness.
In this inaugural piece, I shall be discussing with you, the “Move of God”. Every society needs the move of God, and the Church of Christ is the main place for God’s strange acts.
To accomplish things as a people, the power of God is pivotal. People do not act until they see a practical manifestation of God’s power. Humans are wired to see proofs. Until there is a demonstration of His power, people will not act or change.
Until the power of God manifests, sinners will not repent. Before he repented and became Paul the Apostle, Saul did not change in persecuting the followers of Christ until after encountering the power of God on the way to Damascus (Acts 9. 1-13).
God’s move can happen without warning; this is why we need perception in the spirit. As Christians, we have limited God to only when we come for church service.
Divine encounters come at different times and in different places. It may be while asleep that revelation comes. It might be while transiting or while at work. It can happen during praise and worship, or sermons. God’s visitation can happen anywhere and with such encounter is divine revelation, the move of God.
But, what is wrong with the church today? The fervor is waning, yet the Holy Spirit is as of old, He has not changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He has not changed.
However, the church of today is exhibiting tendencies that seem to demonstrate that there is a different God and Holy Spirit in the church. No, it is the same God of our forefathers. He is the Ancient of Days. To win and act like a church, we need His move in our midst.
What is the move of God? His presence (Matthew 28:20), through the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit, makes all things possible for those who seek Him. The move of God are His manifestations of favor and greatness in our lives and around us. “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalms 84:11). God’s move is the revival for redemption and everlasting life.
The Psalmist says in Isaiah 57:15, “For this is what the high and exalted One says— He who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite”.
In addition to the above, we need God’s move to perform or reenact the acts and power of God on earth- heal the sick, make the blind see, catalyze the lame to walk, and perform other miracles. God’s move in the Body of Christ and as individuals is necessary to win more souls.
As we said earlier, people, and of this age in particular are moved by signs and wonders. Even Jesus had to prove Himself a couple of times through signs and wonders to make the doubting Thomas and people like him during His time, believe Him.
We cannot carry out signs and wonders if we are not the sons and daughters of God. What qualifies us as the children of God is the capacity to manifest signs and wonders, and by these, win more believers. The move of God is that power and apostolate revival desirable in this end time to salvage the multitude, who are vulnerable spiritually.
How can believers trigger the move of God? First and non-negotiable is a life of righteousness. One of the reasons we do not see the move of God in the church anymore is that we toy with sin. In Genesis 17.1, we are made to know that, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless”.
God commanded Abram (who later became Abraham) to walk in the Lord’s presence and to be of such good character before God that no valid charge of wrongdoing could be brought against him. God, seeking to establish a covenant with Abraham, demanded that he (Abraham) give in to a life of righteousness.
Righteousness was a condition to experience the move of God. That strange act of God eventually established with Abraham redefined his life and the entire world, as he became the only one ever referred to as the father of nations. It took the condition of righteousness to trigger this amazing move of God.
Therefore, if we are to experience the power of God in this generation, God expects righteousness from us. If His word of righteousness abides in us, whatever we ask Him will be done (John 15.7).
You have to hunger and thirst for righteousness in order to be filled (Matthew 5:6). Let our hearts pant after God (Psalm 42.1). The scripture warns us in Proverbs 14:34 that, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” In this simple verse, we see an established rule, or standard, composed of two alternatives. There is no middle ground. And to be blameless, we must be cautious and discreet about the company we keep, in order not to go stray and miss the move of God.
Another trigger of God’s move is to be hungry for that power. Spiritual hunger is the key. You must read His word every day. You pray seven days a week. A week without prayers makes you weak. To encounter God’s move, you need His word and invite His presence through prayers. We must be vulnerable to and pray for one another (James 5.16). By praying, fasting, and reading His word always, we are establishing a deep relationship with Him, which triggers His move.
Thirdly, we must hunger for His word and company. The power or move of God is possible again in the end time. It is always available. But we must be deliberate about obtaining or encountering it. As Christians, we must seek it by triggering it through righteousness or sanctification; through hunger for God through prayers, fasting, and studying the scriptures; and by panting after the ways of the Lord.
Until we share the good news again next Sunday, I pray for God’s blessings upon you and all that concerns you.
•Pastor Adelusimo is the Resident Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Chapel of Praise Parish, Northwest Arkansas, United States of America (USA).
