UPDATE FROM PENSA GHANA CONFERENCE'15
FRIDAY 9TH JANUARY 2015
TALK II BY APOSTLE OUSMANE ZABRE
(Morning Session for Tertiary)
TOPIC: The Qualities of a Good Steward.
The whole Christian life is about service. For the Son of man (Jesus)
came to serve and not to be served. Believers have to emulate this act of the
Lord.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD STEWARD
1. FAITHFULNESS
This is how
one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of
God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful- ESV (I Cor 4:1-2)
A faithful person is one who is a person of honesty, truthfulness,
loyal to his earthly masters, loyal to his community and his country. A
faithful person is one who is reliable and trustworthy (Ps 18:25). We need to be
found faithful not only in the church but also in the secular works. If we
purpose in our heart to be faithful and the world even refuses us, our
faithfulness will be a witness for us.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY
So then each
of us will give an account of
himself to God- ESV (Romans 14:12),
But they
will give account to him who is
ready to judge the living and the dead – ESV (I Peter 4:5)
Everyone on earth will one day appear before the judgment seat of
God to render or give an account of his or her stewardship. Nothing on earth is
hidden from His sight, including all secret acts (Heb 4:13). Stewardship
requires periodic checks in operational result waiting for the appropriate time
set by the master. We need to be very careful of our services for God is
watching. Good account attracts approbation if considerable improvement is
made. The more we know about the Kingdom of God, the more our accountabilities
will be. We can therefore use the management acronym as a check.
That is the SWOT acronym.
S......Strength
W. ....Weaknesses
O. ....Opportunities
T. ....Treats
3. SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY
And he
called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come – KJV (Luke 19:13)
We give responsibilities to one who is responsible. We have been
given opportunities, time and means to live for Christ through acts of
kindness, prayer, bible study and many others. How responsible have we been in
these areas?
The only adequate explanation is that, the great moral being, who
created all of us, planted the moral sense in us, no other explanation is
adequate. We have a responsibility to salvation. If we don't go out to preach
the good news souls won't be won. God therefore expects us to fulfill this
responsibility of soul winning. We have so many people who have the form of
Christianity but true Christians are scarcely found in the church.
4. WORKING ASSIDUOUSLY FOR PRODUCTIVITY
Behold, I
have given you authority to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you –ESV (Luke 10:19) John 15:8,
16
The church is full of great power that is under utilized. God
therefore expects us to work very hard in order to bear fruits. We have been
called out not to sit in church but to bear fruits as Disciples of Christ.
5. AVOIDANCE OF IDLENESS OR LAZINESS
“Cursed is
he who does the work of the Lord with slackness,
and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed – ESV (Jeremiah 48:10),
And say to Archippus,
"Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you
may fulfill It." – NIV (Col 4:17)
A True Steward eschews laziness no matter the challenges.
He added that, the power or potentiality possessed by Christians
or the church can be transformed into kinetic energy. Stewards are spiritual
electric post (transforming energy) and hydroelectric dam (generating energy).
We therefore need to know and exhibit the power of God in our lives for God's
glory and impact our world for we have been made living trophies and walking
testimonies. 2 Pet 1:3
GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP FOLLOWING
STILL OCCUPY TILL HE COMES...
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