THREE KEY PRINCIPLES
Dr Peter Tan
There are three points on angels that we want to speak about. As we look at this topic we want to make it very clear that it is not right to try to see angels. Now it will not happen that way. Although we teach a series on angels which produces a desire to understand them better but to have visions of them must be according to God's perfect will. Sometimes it is not necessary that we ever see one. But we must be aware that we are working with the angels in our life. And we want to make this statement that it is not right for us to try to see them.
In fact in the spirit world there is a strange law. Whatever you try to do or to get you will never succeed. The spirit world works more by yielding than by trying. And every time you try too hard you won't succeed. In the spirit world it is more achieved by yielding and receiving rather than trying and grabbing. And if it is not God's will for us to have a manifestation, ten let's not force God's hand. So I want to be very careful to make it clear that we do not try to see angels. We don't seek after an angel at all. You just live in God's perfect will and do your best that you know how to do whatever God's will is in your life and leave it up to God. And be aware of how to work with angels that's all.
What we are going to share in these three points is the pre-requisites to angels manifesting to some of these people. What were their positions like? What were they doing? We know that God sometimes manifest in a big prayer meeting or in a big worship service. We know that He is not limited to that. When we are doing God's perfect will we could be doing anything and suddenly God will send an angel or some spiritual manifestation to our life, because we are in God's perfect will. We want to look at some Christians' lives and show forth from their lives what they were doing and where they were when the angels came to minister to their life. We have to treat the ministry of angels as a bonus. Not something you seek for. They will work any way whether you know it or not. But treat it as a bonus. When you go for a job. You don't consider the bonus. You consider the actual job itself. What are you supposed to do and what is the basic salary etc. The bonus may be considered but it is not your main consideration. You don’t take a job because of the bonus. There has to be a lot of other factors involved. In the same way treat the ministry of angels as an extra bonus that God has given for this life on earth. We have to seek after God, the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit etc. these are our main call.
Seeking God for a Revelation
The first point the correct position to be when the angels minister to our life is, number one, to seek God for an understanding or a revelation. Many of us have got visions that we don’t understand. Dreams that we couldn’t interpret. Revelations that we couldn't fully digest. Prophecies that we couldn’t make head or tail. Many of us have all those things. hanging somewhere in our dairies, in our devotional book, in our file, somewhere are some of these things. The interesting thing is Daniel has all those things but he went one step further. He sought God for an understanding of his vision, of his dreams, of the prophecies. He was a seeker. Angels love to work with seekers after truth, people who are hungry for more of God. Now many of us have some dreams, some prophecies, some vision, some revelations that we don’t fully understand piled up somewhere in our files on our shelf. But we never bother to take the time to seek God about it. We never took one day off to fast and pray over those things. We never spend time over those. We are too busy. And we may take the attitude; they are the extreme attitude, while if those things are from God they will come to pass by themselves. Yes to a certain extent. But when you work with God for long, you will realize everything is a union with God. There are something that are done on God's part and there are something that needs to be done on our part. And if you go on for the next five years or the next ten years not seeking God about some of these things, you will find that after five or ten years you are still in the same position where you were. God likes people of initiative. God likes people to take initiative to love Him, to seek Him. And Daniel was such a person.
Let's look at the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel is divided into two sections. The first section is called the historical section from chapter one to six. The second section is from chapter seven to chapter twelve, which are all prophecies and visions and revelations. So on one side is history and on other side is revelation. And it seems that in Daniel's life that he had his first few visions in the latter days of his life. His first one is mentioned in Daniel 7: 1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, now that was in his latter years. He was an old man by that time. Be patient with God, don’t be impatient with yourself or with God. Daniel was faithful to the word of God, faithful in prayer. Three times a day he prayed all his life. Be faithful in what God is doing in your life. Never get impatient. And as we patiently seek after God one day those things will begin to work out in God's perfect time. So Daniel had a dream and vision on his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream telling the main fact. From verse two to verse fourteen was a description of it. It is one of the many visions and dreams he had. Daniel 7: 15 I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body and the visions of my head troubled me. We are not sure whether he was still in the vision and then he came to these people whom he saw in the vision and ask them some questions, or whether it was some days later that he had a vision and then he asked these people. But the fact in verse fifteen that he was grieved in his spirit within his body and the visions of his head troubled him seems to imply that he had them sometime before. And there was a time gap for may be several days. But what was happening to Daniel. Daniel sought to understand. He didn’t just ask people to interpret. He didn’t just look for counsel. Seeking counsel is good for in the multitude of counselors there is safety. But many times we seek after everyone except God. We seek after every manifestation except God. We need to learn how to seek God personally, individually on our knees. And Daniel must have been seeking after God for an understanding.
Seek to understand that is point one. When you seek to understand whatever God has given you which could be a vision, dream, prophecy, you do encourage the ministry of angels to work in your life. What would have happened if Daniel didn’t seek the angel? It would be what I called the normal ministry. There would be no extra special ministry of the angels in his life. Because he sought God the angels interpreted for him some of his dreams in verse sixteen onwards. Then in Daniel 8: 1 here is another vision. In the third year of the reign of king Beelshazzar, a vision appeared to me. And he described the vision in detail. And this time it is very clear in chapter eight that there was a time gap. It was only implied in chapter seven but now in chapter eight it was very clear. Daniel 8: 15 Now it happened when I Daniel had seen that vision. Now many of us stop at that part. Maybe ours is a different thing. We have heard the prophecy. Or we have dreamt a dream or we have received a revelation that we couldn’t fully understand. We stop at that point. We never went further. We kept it in our diaries or on our shelf. Remember God loves seekers. And we need to take the initiative to seek after God.
Remember the parables that Jesus told. A major portion of His sermons was in parables. He would preach to the multitudes and He would tell one parable after another. And the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said asked Him why does He speak in parables. The reason they ask Him is because when He speaks to the disciples He doesn’t speak in parables. But when He is preaching in public He speaks in parables. And Jesus made a profound statement that is found in the gospel: to you it is given to understand this mystery but to other it is not given, that hearing they may not hear, seeing they may not see. When you look at it, it is very strange. Why did the Lord make it difficult? If you study it the purpose of the parable was just the telephone ringing for them to pick it up. It was just like the burning bush burning for them to come nearer. He gave them a little bit and see how they react to the parable so that the parables will separate the hungry from those not hungry for God. Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. Implying that those who are not hungry and thirsty for Him will never receive His ministry. Even if Jesus were to come this year and appear somewhere, do you know it would still be only those hungry and thirsty for God who would go to Him? And there will be people who will be too busy for Him. Even in Noah's time people were buying and selling and giving in marriage and involved in all kinds of activity. Jesus' parables was to separate those who are hungry for more of God from those who are not hungry. Although He chose twelve apostles there were a whole group of people who followed Him because they were hungry for God. He wants to minister only to those who are hungry for God. So to the multitude some who are spectators, some who came were out of curiosity, some who are there just to watch and see, some who are trying to check on Him like the Pharisees. Jesus wanted to separate them out from those who are hungry.
And here we see in the bible that principle is true in Daniel's time. Whenever God gives you a prophecy it is not just to keep on the shelf. Now everything will be revealed in His time. There is something that cannot be revealed until its time. Even if you ask an expert, they can try to decipher and interpret but it will never really be revealed. Remember towards the end of the book of Daniel, Daniel had some special visions and revelations. And he wanted to understand them. And the angel told him these things are shut up until the future. In Daniel 8: 15 I Daniel had seen a vision (It was in the past tense. He had seen a vision. For those of us who had heard a prophecy or had dreamt a dream or revelation shouldn't stop there.) And was seeking (God loves seekers) the meaning. Now what happens if he did not seek for the meaning? Nothing would have happened. Maybe that is the story of our life. We have received something. Maybe God has given us a dream, or a vision of your life, of your profession, of your ministry. That is our destiny. We should be seeking God to reveal more understanding of this.
Remember when Joseph had a dream, the dream showed him his destiny. God may have given you the revelation of your destiny in one prophecy, in one vision, in one dream. You are like Joseph the dreamer. That one dream covers your destiny. You could have thousands of revelation but that one dream that you had was like the Joseph's two dreams that cover the destiny of his life. What are you going to do about that? Seek God for its meaning. Seek God for its fulfillment. Don’t just leave it there. Like Daniel seek God to understand its meaning. When you understand its meaning, you will know how to flow with what God is trying to direct your life with.
As Daniel sought for the meaning, there suddenly came one having the appearance of a man. It was an angel. Look at why the angel came in verse nineteen. You see you can enhance the ministry of angels to your life. You can increase their ability to minister to your life. Not just the normal way but special way. Daniel 8: 19 I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be. The whole purpose of the angel ministry to him was because Daniel sought for the meaning. Some of us read the book of Daniel and we think that it was God who sent the angel to him. If Daniel was not a seeker after God for its meaning, some of those angelic visitation and interpretation would not have taken place. Definitely there is a possibility that Daniel chapter seven would not have taken place. It would be just as a dream that's all. It is implied that he sought God for the vision. In chapter eight the angelic visitation would not have taken place and all he would have was a funny dream. He would not have an angelic visitation if he did not seek God for its meaning.
Daniel 9: 20-22 Now while I was speaking, praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I have seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said (look at Gabriel's words to Daniel), "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. You must be a seeker after God. In verse twenty three at the beginning of his prayer God has already started initiating. Now what was interesting is Daniel 9: 2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord given through Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face towards the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications with fasting, sack-cloth and ashes. The most interesting thing was that Daniel was seeking God because of the bible reading that he read in the scroll of Jeremiah that he partially understood and he thought that he fully understood. And because of the revelation of Jeremiah from the word of God, he sought after God. Daniel was a seeker after God. And because he sought after God, the Lord granted him to understand all that he could understand according to his time in history. Now we all don’t understand everything perfectly. We understand a little bit at a time. When Daniel read the book of Jeremiah which was already written in his time and saw the prophecy of seventy years, he understood that it should have to pass. And he sought God for the meaning of the prophecy, which according to his understanding, should have come to pass. As a result, God sent Gabriel to tell Daniel that it will come to pass but there is more meaning than that. It also points to the coming of the Messiah where the seventy years represent seventy times seven years.
When we look at Daniel 9 I would dare to say this fact: if Daniel had not been a seeker after God for the meaning of the bible, the whole of Daniel chapter nine would not have happened. So don't ever say angels will just move as they will. There has to be some response from our part. And if Daniel had not been a seeker after God and after truth, the whole Daniel chapter eight would not been written. We would have two chapters short. I wonder whether in our life story, some chapters have been cut short because we did not take the initiative to seek God. As you can seek God about a vision or a dream, don't expect that God must reply immediately. Let God take His time. But for you, you must set aside time to seek after those things to understand the visions and prophecies and their meaning and fulfillment.
In 1979 I started praying for God to give me an understanding of the book of Revelation since I knew that the Body of Christ needed to understand the book of Revelation before the last days come. It was only in 1989- ten years later - that God started to make things clear to me. I believe God would not have revealed if I have not asked. Ask that your joy may be full. Ask for what? He didn’t say just ask for a car or something natural or carnal. Ask God for His revelation, His truth, His visions and dreams of His destiny in your life. Ask God for the revelation that is hidden in His word that has special relevance to your life. And there are not enough people doing that. Some of us are not people who are very visual. But we are people who are very studious. We know a lot of scriptures. We read the word. You could seek God about the scripture just like Daniel sought God over the scripture of Jeremiah. In whatever area God will speak to you through prophecy, through the word, through vision, through your inner witness about your life and your destiny, we need to take time to seek God about those things. And they will activate not just the normal work of angels. The angels will quicken the work in a more special way in your life because you have become a seeker after God.
Lets look as Daniel 10: 1-3 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision. So he had a partial understanding of what he had received. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks, (he was fasting twenty-one days), I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth nor did I anoint myself with oil till three whole weeks were fulfilled. For twenty-one days he was spending time with God even though he was a Prime Minister and a busy man. He took all the free time that he had to seek God. Over what? He was not seeking God for more riches. He was not seeking God for more position. You see a lot of us taking a lot of time to pray for carnal things. If you only knew, when you receive spiritual things the carnal things will be added to you. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. The question is did you seek after the kingdom? What do you mean by seeking after the kingdom? We need seeking after truth, seeking after God, seeking after the things of God. And all these things will be added to your life.
I believe that Daniel was fasting for twenty-one days for more revelations. He had some revelations but he needed more. By now it had become a habit with Daniel to seek God about those things. Some of the difficult passages in the bible have taken me years to pray over and to ask God to help me to understand them. Whatever visions or dreams or prophecy we have we need to take time to seek after God. Angels love people who seek after God and they do special work for people like that. You don’t seek after angels. You seek after God and you look at what He has done. We are not seeking for something new. We are seeking to understand to what He has been speaking to us. Not a single one of us can say God has not been speaking to us. But it is true when God speaks to us we don’t understand what He speaks. What must we do if we don’t understand all that God speaks to us? Seek Him, which is what many people don’t do. They are looking for more new things instead of understanding all the old things God has revealed and seeking God for an understanding. And when you take time to do that God loves you. God loves seekers.
I believe Daniel was taking twenty one days to seek God for that. We know by the ways the angel say to him in Daniel 10: 11 "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words the I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." Verse twelve tells you what he was seeking for, for twenty-one days. He was not seeking for more riches, or more position, or more gold and silver and definitely not for any carnal things. He was seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Daniel 10: 12 Do not fear Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand. Point one, seek to understand. In the spirit world understanding doesn’t come just by a lecture. Understanding doesn't come just by study. Understanding comes by revelation as God gives more light for us to see. It comes by seeking. From the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. The angelic instructions lasted from Daniel chapter 10 till chapter 12. There would have been no angelic visitation if Daniel had not been seeking to understand. We know chapter nine would not have been there if Daniel had not been seeking to understand. And we know chapter eight would not be there if Daniel had not been seeking to understand. And we know chapter seven implied may not be there if Daniel had not been seeking to understand.
We look at our modern twentieth century. It is no different from Daniel's time in a sense. And we ask ourselves why there is so little angelic manifestation working in our midst. And you have the answer. There are not many seekers after God. There are not many who seek to understand. So you don’t seek for angel, you don’t seek for all these things. Examine your life what God has been speaking to you that you don’t understand. Why not you take time to write those things down and take time to fast and pray like Daniel and seek God to understand the meaning, the fulfillment, the appointed time and everything else about those things. And when you sincerely do it with all your heart, you will activate the special ministry of angels.
Do Your Best
Point two, do your best. If we have not been doing our best with all that we know how with all that God has given us, the angels will not be activated either. Angels are not here to replace us. There are here to intervene not to interfere. To help us. When we say help, it is implied that we are doing something and then they are helping us. Let me give some examples of people who have reached the point of maximum obedience. They have done all that they know how to do and yet help is not coming. That’s when you can trust that God will let His angels work mightily for you. If you have not done all your best the angels will not be activated in that sense. I mean they will be work all the time in the normal way but I am talking about the special way. The normal work of the angels still continues whether we ask or don’t ask God. But there is a special work where because of our obedience and our initiation, the angels are commissioned because of our drawing close to God.
In the book of Genesis 16 I bring the story of Hagar and Ishmael because they are imperfect people. Many times when we illustrate principles with the lives of men or women of God, we may say they are like that but I am like this. They are so perfect so that is why this and that happened to them. That’s not for me. So I want to use an example when you know this person is imperfect. Hagar was imperfect and so was Ishmael. They also have made mistakes in their lives. Ishmael's mistake was that he did not respect his master's son. And Hagar's mistake was that instead of being happy that she bore a child for Abraham, she started to have a wrong attitude towards Sarah, her mistress.
Genesis 16: 4 So he went into Hagar and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived her mistress became despised in her eyes. That’s a nice way of saying she became proud. Whenever you despise people it is because you feel that you are higher then them. And person can become proud after God blessed him or her. That is why when you have just got a blessing from God, quickly bend your knees and thank God. When people fall into trouble they are very quick to bend their knees. But when people are blessed they forget to bend down their knees quickly to God. Whether you are blessed or stricken, God will protect you from being stricken if you know the word. You are redeemed from the curse of the law. But in your blessing remember not to be proud. Humble yourself before God. Remember this you were born into this world without a title. You got your title because of your love ones or your uncle or you partially help yourself to achieve your education. But no one can be where they are without somebody else's help. Even for people who say that they are a self made person but nevertheless, they had an opportunity to make of themselves something. There are a lot of people who never had the opportunity, who never had a recommendation. Remember to thank God. Anything we got in this life is because of His grace.
And Hagar was judged and was punished. Sarah was angry, she wouldn’t mind even if Hagar died. She sent her off. That looks cruel too. Sarah was also wrong. This is an imperfect situation. Thank God in imperfect situation your angels still can work. If angels were to wait until we are perfect to work they will have no job to do. In Genesis 4: 6 Sarah dealt harshly with her. I mean she treated Hagar cruelly. And Hagar suffered until she couldn’t take it any more and ran off. Genesis 4: 7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness on the way to Shur. And the angel said, "Hagar where have you come from, where are you going. I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarah. Then the angel said, return to your mistress, submit yourself under her hand. I will multiply your descendants so that they shall not be counted for the multitude. She is a woman who is suffering for the mistakes she has made. And God is a God of compassion. God loves the needy. No matter even if they suffer for their own sins and their wrongdoings, God is still grieved.
Do you remember when the world was being judged in Noah's time and it was to be punished, it says in Genesis 6 God grieved. See God loves those who are suffering, those who are needy. The suffering of mankind touches Him. He knows somehow in the whole chain of events, it all came because of the fall of man. You know why the angel came. Hagar had no other road to turn. And her best was not really the best in God's sight. She thought that the best was running away. The best was not running away. Let me tell you in some of our lives, some hardships, some difficulties, sometimes we think the best is running away. The best in our mind or in our understanding may not be God's best. When she had done her best in her situation; when she couldn't take it any more and rather die, God sent an angel. She reached a point of maximum tolerance. And the angel said, "Go back."
Now look at the second time the angel appeared to Sarah. After Isaac was born and something else happened which was sad and should not have happened. Genesis 21: 9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. That is like despising Isaac. So the root attitude was not dealt with yet. Sarah was very unhappy. And she wanted to chase out Hagar again. This time Abraham was the one with compassion. Sarah didn’t even give her anything. In Genesis 21: 14 Abraham rose up early in the morning, took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Sarah wasn’t even around. No thank you for all years that Hagar had been serving her. Just one moment of strife and she forgot all the good things of the past. We should never do that. No matter how you misunderstand somebody, no matter how you fight and quarrel, remember this every one has some good in them. Maybe you have not tasted some of the good things in their life that they maybe helping somebody else. Because when God made us He saw something good in all of us. We may not be perfect. And maybe the person that you are trying to get rid off could have been a blessing to somebody else. Remember there is goodness in every one of us that needs to be drawn out. No matter how tough the situation always remember Philippians 4 think about the good things.
In verse fifteen the water in the skin was used up. She placed the boy under one of the bushes because she didn’t want to see the boy die. Think about the situation. She had one little baby. Don't look at her from Sarah's point of view. In every situation there is always two ways to look at it, positively or negatively. All things work for good to those who love God. In every situation look for the positive. Always choose the positive way. Hagar could have been middle aged by now. All she had was a skin of water with no place to go and apparently no natural future. She was sent away from a place which provided her food, clothing shelter and everything that she needed. While she is out there in the wilderness, there was no man to help. Isn't this sometimes your last situation? Remember this: tough times may come but tough times don’t last. Tough people do. Be stronger than your tough times and you will pull through the tough times.
And there she was without any more water, without any man to protect her, without any knowledge about desert survival and her son was dying. As if she was not suffering enough, her son was now dying. In that situation many people don’t mind dying that the son may live. She put her son in the bush and went away because she cannot bear to see her son die. How far can a person go? What is the maximum tolerance? How far can a person stretch? Remember when you have done your best, even with all your mistakes; the best in your situation may not have been God's best. When you have done all that you know how to and there is not one more ounce of strength or energy or finances or anything else in you to go forth and it looks like as if you are going to die off and that is the last muscle, that's when God's angels will work: when you have done your best in your situation.
And the angel of God appeared to Hagar. In Genesis 21: 16-17 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad. It looks like a tragedy story with a sad ending. But in God all things work for good to those who love God. When she reached the maximum best shot that she could have God heard the cries of the lad in verse seventeen. Genesis 21: 17-18 The angel called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him in your hand, for I will make him a great nation. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
The bible says in Ephesians 6 having done all stand. Now if it is one more thing that you haven't done: do it first. When you reached your maximum and done everything you know how and have prayed to the Lord, you can expect a miracle with God. You can expect God to send a special work of His angel and God Himself to work miraculously in your life. The question is have we done our best. That is a question that only you can answer in your private closet with God. Point two do your best and let God take care of the other things. But as for you and your household just do your best in your circumstances, in your knowledge which may not be the best in God's sight but the best in your understanding and you leave it in the hands of God. God will take care of the rest.
In the book of Acts 27 here is the apostle Paul. He is a prisoner for the Lord. It's obvious that he had done the best that he knows how. He has testified for Jesus. He has obeyed God by going to Jerusalem even though he was warned that he would be imprisoned. Yet God will always put the right people in your path when you do your best. In Acts 27: 1 Paul was on his way to Rome. And when it was decided that we should set sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment. Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. When you do your best God's angels are working invisibly arranging all the circumstances.
Joseph did his best in the Old Testament and God arranged all the right people across his path. I believe the story of Ruth where she did her best and God's angel, although they are not mentioned, must have been working to arrange all the circumstances. Do your best as much as you know how.
Then as they were about to sail in Acts 27: 9-10 Paul sensed danger. He says in verse ten, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss. He did his best to warn them and God will take care of the rest. Against Paul's wishes they set sail. And immediately disaster struck. A lot of cargos were lost and everyone was thinking that they are going to die. There was no one who could save them and God sent an angel because He has done his best. An angel appeared to Paul in Acts 27: 23-24 "For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.' This means that not a single one will die. See angels work in a special way when you have done your best. You don’t expect a miracle until you have done your best. Sometimes we hold back different things and then we wonder why God didn’t work. And then we complain. Actually we were the ones who cause those problems.
King David said I have been young and I have been old but I have not seen anyone who loves the Lord forsaken. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger but those who love the Lord never lack any good food. I like to make this statement. I don’t believe that there is any single individual on earth in this life or in the life of those before us in history that have done their best as much as they know how in God spirit, soul and body and did not see God come through for them. If it takes a miracle, God will work a miracle. If it takes opening the Red Sea God will open the Red Sea. Sometimes God work through circumstances. He brings people across your path like he does to Joseph. But if you have done your best, then you deserve God's best. Point two do your best to your maximum in prayer as God helps you and God impresses upon you every prompting that you need to obey and leave the result in the hands of God.
Dedication
Point three is to understand of what I call dedication. Dedication is to surrender something or some situations or whatever to the Lord. When we dedicate a place to the Lord it gives the angels special permission to interfere in the protection of the place. When you dedicate your business to the Lord, it gives the angels special permission to intervene in the affairs of your business. When you become a tither and a person who gives God offering, you are dedicating your life to God. The covenant that we make with God requires that we give something to God. When you have dedicated your life to God in whatever way, it gives the angels a special permission at different points of their lives. It works both ways, good or bad. In the evil spiritual realm demons powers have permission to interfere and to oppress and suppress lives because they have been dedicated to satanic forces. Now that happens in the negative. Sometimes children that are affected are innocent because the adults have dedicated themselves and their families to satan. Now the reverse is true. When we dedicate ourselves to God there is a special angelic protection in our lives and intervention because of our dedication to the Lord.
Lets look at Paul's life in Galatians 1: 15 But when it please God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace. Do you notice here that something happened when Paul was in his mother's womb? We know according to Ephesians 1 that the call of God is in predestination. Before we were born He has called and chosen us. So what is this thing taking place in his mother's womb. I believe when Paul's mother was expecting him. Paul's mother must have dedicated him to the use of Almighty God. From that day forward the angels started working. And they made arrangements invisibly such as Paul was brought up under the best teacher of his time. When we look at other lives and see why God work through Moses and ask how come the angels worked in his life quite mightily, we find that in the letter to the Hebrews we are told that the parents have somehow dedicated him. Look at Hebrews 11: 23 By faith Moses when was born was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command. Now that implied that they saw something in him that they must have dedicated to God. The mother may have prayed a prayer when she put the child in the basket and let it float down the Nile. And the angels started working in his life right up to the time in the burning bush because he was dedicated to the Lord.
The Jews in this world have prospered in many areas. Do you realized that on the eighth day when the Jew is circumcised as a Jew, that is also their dedication ceremony, that they were actually dedicated to Yahweh God. And it is because of the dedication that had got God working in his area. Now as Christians we are a new race, new people, new breed that we learn the art of dedication. We dedicated our business, we dedicated our house, we dedicate our children. In the Old Testament they dedicate a house by saying, "Lord, although this is work of our little hands, yet we now surrender it to you. It is yours." That's dedication. Setting it apart for God. It can be people, persons, houses, or anything in your possession, which you dedicate it to God. The dedication gives the angels special permission to intervene. Point one seek to understand. Point two do your best. Point three the law of dedication.
