No more brambles – Part 3

Beloved of God, it was not so from the beginning. In the beginning, God says, “I give you power to subdue, to have dominion, we were given the dominion mandate,” Genesis 1:28. In Deuteronomy 28:13, God said, you shall be above only and not beneath. “And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath….”

In the Bible days, the seed of Abraham like Joseph was picked by God as a foreigner, as a stranger, a prisoner. He took him from the dungeon and placed him on the highest seat and he influenced everywhere. It was the same with Nehemiah. He was a civil servant, but God picked him from the civil service and placed him in the highest seat of government. What about Mordecai, a gatekeeper to the greatest seat of power? Same with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were in the government of their days as foreigners. There are written in the scripture for us as examples of whom the end of the world has come upon. In other words, God placed those men in authority in the Old Testament to spur our hearts and mind, and we should also not sit down and allow brambles to be filling everywhere.

Let’s consider Daniel’s case. Who was Daniel? A foreigner, a stranger, a slave. He was a young man captured from the land of Israel and taken to the land of Babylon. He had no right to have become one of the stakeholders, or to have been in the corridors of power in the land of Babylon. But with God, all things are possible. With zero prospects, he landed in the strange land and God used one man to single him out, connected and brought him into the corridors of power and go beyond that to connect him to the throne. Everyman needs a gate man to open the door. In Daniel’s life, the man was called Ashphinaz, who was the man Nebuchadnezzar put in charge to scout for young men who were well educated, well informed, who had communication skills and were very qualified to bring them as a winning team to Mr. President.

And Ashphinaz gathered all the youths and put them through exams. Among all those people that sat for the exams, Daniel excelled and was outstanding. Don’t be redundant. Consistently sharpen your skills, because a day will come when people will look for the men who have what you have to offer. Ashpinaz saw Daniel as a very creditable young man and conscripted him. The Bible says Daniel found favour in the sight of Ashpinaz, the man who has direct access to Mr. President. The best footballers are not those people we watch in the Premier League. The best footballers have never been found because they don’t have an Ashphinaz. The best singers are not all those ones we see on television. The best preachers are not the ones on TBN.

Joseph was inside the prison and God brought a butler and he gave a prophesy and the interpretation and the thing came to pass and the butler was restored and he forgot Joseph but two years later there was a need in the corridors of power and he remembered Joseph. The butler became his door opener. The butler became his Ashpinaz. When Samuel anointed David, that same chapter, within few hours Saul was distressed by demonic spirit and they looked for a professional player who will be able to play the harp for him.

And the Bible says one of King Saul’s servants stood before Saul and said there is a man, very skilful, a mighty warrior, and the hand of the Lord is upon him. And Saul said, go and bring him to me immediately. I pray that you meet your door opener in the next few days that will lead you to the throne, in Jesus name. God will anoint and raise the David of our time into the seat of power and authority in the nation of Nigeria.
Rev. Theodore Effiong, Assemblies of God Church, Calabar Or Prayer To All Nations (PTAN), Prayer City, Calabar. CRS Email: theoeffiong@yahoo.com
Phone – +234 9030012007, +234 7031921770