"To be used of God is your greatest purpose... To be useful is your life’s greatest asset ... To be useless is life worst tragedy..."

Study to become Useful

2 Tim 2:15

Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.

“To be used of God is your greatest purpose.

To be useful is your life’s greatest asset

To be useless is life worst tragedy.”

It is very important for one to understand that, in order to be Used of God, one should be willing to submit themselves to the training of god for the role and purpose He (God) choses to use them for. Part of the training includes STUDYING. Most believes want to be used of god but have never invested time to learn about God and how he has used people in the past. A lot of scriptures try to guide us and hint to us to say, if you want to be Useful start being resourceful and learn, study, reach , ask , get help whatever it takes as a workman.

Hebrews 13:7

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Remember your Leaders : According to God’s protocol of training, he sets up leaders that are to show the way and also live out the way of God’s purposes , so that those that come after them can imitate. This shows already how much we need each other, because if we didn’t have leaders to show us how will we know the ways and working of God?

Written to teach us : having a teachable spirit is one of the main requirements to being a Usable vessel. People who can not be taught or learn anything from anyone, are in most cases exhibiting signs of pride, and when it comes to God and usability, pride is one thing God will not work with or even consider using. In James 4:6 it states, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” So if one desires to be used of god, then Studying , learning and being teachable is something they need to invest in. Daniel , one of the most prominent figures in the old testament, who God used in a high leadership position in Babylon, also confirms that the need to study is paramount to how much and far God can use you.

Daniel 9:2

I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the LORD…

Let’s look at Jesus training, we don’t hear anything about him in his younger days apart from then fact that when he was 12 years he seat with the Scribes and Pharisees and asked them questions. This was learning, studying , researching. Also we learn in his later stage it is recored that it was his custom, routine to go into the synagogue and read the scroll. We can conclude that this was something he did as a young person. Another custom of his that is mentioned in the bible is his prayer life. So before we could ever hear Jesus doing a miracle or preaching a sermon, he had already built a system of learning, studying the word and praying. The gospel of Luke records that , “Jesus grew in Wisdom…” Now ask yourself how did he grow in wisdom? Through Studying and fellowshipping with his Father God in prayer, and all this was before he even started ministering.

To solidify this premise, allow me to share,

Acts 2:2

Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited (approved) by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him …

Paul teaches us that there are different kinds of vessels, which are at God’s disposal. The quality and type of vessel one becomes is highly dependant on how the individual submits and choses to yield themselves to the influence of God.

2 Timothy 2: 20-21

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. This If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

Prepared for the Master’s Use

Believe it or not, God uses people. He can use you to bless and help someone and he can also use someone to bless or help you. Most believers think, God comes out of heaven waves a magic wand and resolves their problems, but they forget John 14, how Jesus prayed that Him and the father will dwell inside the believers.

So while we are looking for a God coming down from heaven to help us, the Holy Spirit is busy trying to connect us to the God inside our fellow brothers and sisters to help us. Have you ever heard of the term, “Divine Connection?”.

This is basically when God puts you into contact with the person or organisation that have the resource, knowledge or grace that you need for your situation or your breakthrough. There are a lot of examples in the bible of Divine connections, where God lets people connect with people that carry their answers. Saul meets Samuel, gets the answer to the Donkeys but also walk away with news his going to be King. Woman at the well, getting water, meets with Jesus, receives a word and is forever changed. Paul is blind prays to God, God sends Annas to come and pray for him so he can see. Cornelius prays to God, God hears him, sends Peter from Joppa to come pray for him and have his household filled with the Holy Ghost.

Now if you still think you don’t need anyone except God , then think again because God needs someone obedient to reach to you, so He (God) can bless you through that obedient vessel.

I remember my father used to say, “ Someone’s breath through or answered prayer, is dependant on your prompt obedience.” Myles Monroe also says something to this effect, “ Man cannot do anything without God, But God will not do anything without man.” It is Gods desire to partner with man to do his will on earth, and man that are humble enough to submit and partner with God are the ones he uses for his glory.

“God uses People,

God blesses through People

He works through people ,that’s his medium.”

Let me share with you the story of the man that drowned, died and went to heaven and asked God why he didn’t help me. So this sailor was lost at sea, his boat capsized and he started crying for help from God. Suddenly another group of sailors passed by him and offered to help but he refused saying that God will come help him. So the sailors left, the storms kept getting worse, and another group of sailors passed and asked if they could help him, and again the man refused and replied, “my God will rescue me.”

The storm really got bad and at this point it was clear if he doesn’t get rescued he is going to sink and drown. Finally the ocean patrol rescue team came and offered to help him, but he still refused until the inevitable happened. Upon arriving to heaven he questioned God why he had let him die and not helped him, but to his surprise God responded I tried helping you three times but you refused. Obviously this is a functional story to try bring a point across, that God uses people and if we can accept that then we will not struggle being blessed by others as we strive to also be a blessing to others.

“When we give or bless someone it is the spirit within us that gives, if your heart is right and Jesus is the focus of your giving, then nothing can ever go to waste that you give doesn’t matter what the recipient does with it because seed sown is spiritual and it is not bound by what happens in the natural.”

I believe most of us know the story of Job, how his latter end was way better than his beginning even though his beginning is still worlds apart to what some of us have experienced when it comes to financial breakthrough. When you read the story in Job 42 when God restores him, most of us get caught up on how his wealth is doubled but I believe majority of us miss how God does the restoration. Allow me to share with you God’s Restoration System from scripture.

Job 42:10 -11

And the Lord [restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.

Job’s wealth did not miraculously appeared, no, that’s not how it happened but that’s how most of us read it, in actual fact, God touched the hearts of Everyone that they Gave to Job, so it is the giving of people to Job that God used to restore his fortunes. Imagine if Job had decided to cut all the people out of his life, who was God going to use to bless him.

You can see this Restoration system operating in the Shunammite woman’s life in 2 Kings 8. There was a famine in the land, she left for Seven years. Upon her return she went to the King to ask for her land back but instead the king offered to give her the produce she could have got from the land during the seven years of the famine, and all this was done through a person but it was because of Gods favour on the woman. God really uses people to bless others.

To get the full context of this blog, please visit our YouTube and watch the sermon title “God Uses People.” This blog is a small extract of the sermon just to try emphasis the concept of how God Uses people and what it takes to be used of God. Thank you for reading this blog, until the next time God bless you.