“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT)
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Romans 12:6-8 (NLT)
In Luke 19:12, Jesus tells a parable about a King who left his Kingdom in the hands of faithful servants and he instructed them to “Occupy till I come.” This is not to be a passive life we live. We are to occupy and take territory for our King. We are to occupy where He has divinely placed us. I believe we can, by our “occupation”, call the earth and its members into God’s design and purpose. Each member embracing our individual stations, and setting our hands to what God has placed before us, working wholeheartedly as unto the Lord, and being open, willing vessels in the process could change the world.
What if the five-fold ministry released their “equipment” and the body began to walk in those things for which we have been created and equipped? What if we each determined in our hearts to walk in the gifts Christ has given each of us without getting hung-up on whether or not we have a title of pastor, teacher, or apostle? As the saints we are to be the ones doing the ministry! The apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists are the ones that hand us our equipment so that as we go about this life, we are used supernaturally every day in the natural places we find ourselves.
What if the Lawyer released the Hope of Heaven to his clients by a supernatural word of knowledge that changed the course of the whole case? What if doctors released supernatural healing as they saw their patients and prayed for their physical restoration? What if the receptionist released prophetic insight as she listened to the caller’s questions, and answered with the words of the Father? What if the cashier broke a spirit of poverty as she gave a smile and a word of encouragement over the single mom with 3 kids that pays every grocery bill with food stamps? How would the world be affected if each member of the body began to think and operate in this way? It is time to change your world! It is time for each of us to step into our Supernatural Occupation!
Father, teach us how to “occupy” our given territories. As we open our mouths, fill them with words of hope, words of knowledge, and words of wisdom. I pray that each of us would pick up our “equipment”, and do as Paul instructed us in Romans 12:6-8. I pray that we would each be faithful and obedient to prophesy, serve, teach, encourage, give, lead and be kind. Use us to advance your Kingdom with our “Supernatural Occupation”.
— Kristie Shuman
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