Proverbs 25:4. “Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel.”

How does God build His disciples and how does He manifest Himself through them? One truth I would like to establish as you allow the Holy Spirit journey with you through the letters of this article is that disciples are built first before they can manifest. The Bible says Jesus called the twelve first to be with Him, so that He may send them out. (Mark 3:14). So, the first place to begin is that you are called by Jesus to be with Him. And until you be with Him, it will be difficult for Him to manifest through you.

 So, For God to manifest through you, He must build you up. And His building up requires a process, He does not manifest Himself through any kind of vessel, He will only manifest through vessels set apart and thoroughly furnished fitting for His use. So, in order to be a qualified and approved vessel of God, there must be readiness and willingness to be built through the process He has designed and purposed to take you through. And that process begins with you accepting His call.

Gods building process for men begins with a call, that is why it is dangerous to begin ministry just by becoming aware of the call of God, it is not enough to be aware of the call of God, you must begin a deliberate journey of being with Him so that you can be equipped for the assignment God has for you. God said to Abraham, get out of your country and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you.

So, the essence of the call is to expose you to a concept call separation. When God calls you, an underlying requirement is that you respond to the call, then you come into the consciousness of separation or consecration. God told Moses, after calling him through the burning bush, He said remove your sandals, for where you stand is a holy ground. The Scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:17, says; “come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.” So, your departure is very important, you must depart in your mind, you must depart physically if need be, you must depart even if emotions wants to become a hindrance. The objective of this article is to primarily shift our focus and perspective as to how you can become a useful tool in the hands of God, or how you can become fitting for Him to manifest through you.

So, when it comes to building men, the word transformation readily comes to mind. And if men will be transformed, then the acceptance of the call of Jesus must be total. Transformation is the reason why Jesus called His disciples to be with Him. It was not so that they could see miracles, or eat bread or look at His face and marvel, it was so that they could be transformed or become a changed person. So, haven accepted the call, you are expected not to look back, the Bible says those who put their hands on the plough and looking back are not fit for the kingdom. So, what is transformation? Transformation is a marked change in form, nature, appearance or even behavior.

Rick Warren said something profound, He said; “Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery-there are moments of mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.” But in all of these, God sees it as transformation, a growth process or as a building process. This shows that the moments were it seems as if God is so far away are the moments were God is closer whispering to you words of assurance. All you have to do is to hear what He says in the midst of the noise.

These moments could be likened to be moments were Joseph was in the pit, moments were he was imprisoned, moments were David was in the cave of Adullam, moments were John the beloved was banished to the island of Patmos, moments were John the Baptist was in the wilderness, moments were Moses was at the backside of the desert, the experiences of Jesus on His way to the cross. Apostle Paul recounting his own ordeal, he said; Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. These were unpalatable experiences, yet they became the basis for which mighty kings, commanders, judges, prime ministers, Apostles and prophets emerged. So, God uses different scenarios and moments to transform us to the end that we become stronger, bigger, brighter, happier and advanced version of ourselves. Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18; I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (NIV)

So, haven been called, and haven accepted the call of Jesus, haven agreed to be with Him; with the determination not to look back, the next experience of that disciple is called transformation. So, the sum total of the experiences of the disciple in His accepting to be with Jesus is geared towards getting him into a transformed life. At this point another definition of transformation I would like to give which I perceive would be so apt and relevant for this article is that, it is a reworking, a revamping, an overhaul, a metamorphosis, a transfiguration, a revision and a modification process targeted towards a disciple in order to achieve the desired result or to return man to God’s original intention or blue print.

So, how does God build, form or transform His disciples so that He can manifest through them? He begins by taking the man through the following journey.

#. He begins to build you by the word. What does this mean? It means that foundations are very important. And God sees it as a priority. It also means that the quality of material you build with is not as important as what you are building on. It is wisdom to build on Christ and with Christ. The most authentic material to be used for building is the word. And the most authentic material to build with is the word. Because, it can stand the test of time. How did I know that? The Bible says heaven and earth may pass away, but His word endures forever more. There is no pressure that can break whatever structure the word has established. That is why the surest foundation is Christ, the one who upholds all things by the word of His power. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

So, a transformed man is a man who has become conscious of the word of God, its relevance and integrity. God begins to build men by the word. Why is that so? Why does He have to begin with the word? For every building project to begin, the starting point is foundation. That is also how God begins the journey of man, the building of man. The Scripture says if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? So the word forms the basis for everything that concerns a man. Acts 10:32 says I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up. Can we see that. The word is able to build up. The second thing God build in a disciple is;

#. The Mind. Scripture says let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. His aim is to achieve in man the kind of mind that was in Christ. It is true that God is at work in you, but it will not be to His pleasure if the limitations of your mind is limiting God. The Scripture says as a man thinketh in His heart so is he. If you can have the mind of Christ, you will think like Christ and then you will become like Christ. What we read about Christ was a reflection of whom He was in His mind. So, God begins to work on the mind of the disciple, to believe in the word, to have great faith, to think big and to grow big. Because that is how God can be seen through any disciple, and God will take the glory for giving such power to men. The next strategy in the journey of Gods building process is that;

#. He builds you with principles. This point talks about pathways, principles and wisdom. God begins to expose you more to Jesus who is the way. Your refusal to follow that way is refusal to be built by God.  Jeremiah 6:16, says; This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it. If you are ignorant of the path it with will be difficult to access and manifest God. God does not build men outside of wisdom, Proverbs 24:3-4, By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. From this Scripture we could see that wisdom is a builder and a necessary ingredient for the process.

And How does God build with wisdom? He does it precept upon precept, lines upon lines, precept upon precept according to Isaiah 28:10. Another area God will build in your journey with Him is;

#. He builds you in the place prayer. Jude 1:20 says; But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Your refusal to pray is your refusal to be built. This point is drawing our attention to the fact that our entire life should be characterized by prayer. Always praying without ceasing. And finally;

#. He builds your love walk. This is what makes the process take a long for some. Jesus admonishing His disciples in John 13 verse 35, He said; “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” They won’t know you are my disciples when you do signs and wonders because the children of darkness can do signs to an extent too, they won’t know you as my disciples when you speak in other tongues or wear religious robes and attires, they will know you as my disciples when you love one another, not when you do miracles. That was why Apostle Paul further buttressing this point in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, He said; “If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is the height of your walk experience with God, that is why a lot of attention is put in this phase of the process. 

In 1 John 4:19-21, it says; Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.  That was why He further admonished us in 1 John 3:18; Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

What are the Things that can Hinder God’s Building Process?

#. Ambition; You must totally surrender your will and everything you hold in high esteem to Jesus. And one of the ways you can do that is to say like Apostle Paul, Lord what would you have me do? (Acts 9:6). It is a stage were everything about you is given away so that God can have His way. You can’t serve God with an ambition, you must empty yourself of it and embrace Gods own assignment, until then, building you up will be difficult.

#. Family, relatives and environment. It is very difficult for God to build a man who has not been able to deny himself, family and loved ones for the sake of following after Christ. Luke 14:26. Until lot was separated from Abraham, God didn’t ask him to lift up eye’s. The Bible says we are in the world but not of the world. So, our building patterns and designs must not be in conformity with the people of the world. Your conformity with the world is enormity with God, your conformity with the world is an outright refusal to be built by God. Hebrews 12:1-2 says; Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. You must be willing to throw off or shed off the things which are not relevant.

#. Pride and arrogance. You must be humble and flexible in the hands of God. Don’t strive with your maker, don’t be like the clay that would dictate to the potter how it should be made. Bible says God resist the proud but He gives grace to the humble. He builds the humble.

#. Impatience. Your endurance is required at this point. You must be willing to wait on God no matter how long and painful, no matter the shame, no matter the process you are taken through. Scripture says in Psalm 105:19 about Joseph, that "the word of the Lord tested or tried him." The same word used in this context "tested" or "proved" was used in Psalm 12:6 and Psalm 66 :10, where the testing process is likened to the refining or "proving" process of silver or gold. It is not a palatable experience but patience and endurance is required.

Malachi 3:3. Says; For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Only patience and endurance can sustain a man’s threshold and focus to going through the building process of God. These are the processes that guarantees a man’s transformation. But for transformation to be total, complete and eternal one more thing is required. The points that were discussed briefly above were to prepare the man for this final stage.

So, the final point is the preparedness or readiness to receive the deposit of God’s Spirit. The Scripture in Genesis 2 verse 7 that says and God formed man of the dust of the ground. What we saw was the formation, then it says and breathed in His nostrils the breath of life. This what we are going to look into. How was God able to achieve that? So, Colossians 1 verse 19 says; For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.

So, the fullness of the Father pleased to dwell in the son are the seven dimension of His Spirit. If you are not formed, you are not ready for the Spirit, if you have not been formed you won’t be able to handle the Spirit. Because, the Spirit and anointing that comes with it which is supposed to help you may sink you. The formation process purges you of pride, self, hate, envy, jealousy, flesh etc., It is the phase were dross are removed. So, transformation is a powerful tool and concept in discipleship, and it is the most proved way to repair or fix the broken pieces of the fallen man.

But this process is not possible without the impartation of God’s Spirit. This is the reason why the end point for transformation is the deposit of God’s Spirit. Jesus called His disciples to be with Him, haven followed Him for a couple of years, He instructed them to wait and they were baptized with the Holy Ghost. When God declared His intention in Genesis 1:26, the Scripture says; “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion.” The idea was that for man to become, to think, act and to look like God, he would carry the Spirit of God. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. They saw Jesus in the disciples because they accepted His call, haven been called they decided to depart and to follow Jesus wholeheartedly without looking back. Peter said to whom shall we go? These sequence was what prepared and formed them for the out pouring of the Spirit of God.

This is the reason why the greatest treasure you can ever seek is the Spirit of God. Men who are wise do not seek after material things, they know that it’s about seeking first the kingdom of God, they go in search of the life of the Spirit and what He has to offer. That was why Elisha requested nothing else but the double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Peter said to whom shall we go. What we seek is eternal life. So, out of the measure of Gods Spirit he had received, he gave to man sitting at the beautiful gate. This is what money cannot buy. For the 70 elders to judge and lead like Moses, they needed the Spirit of Moses not his cloth nor his staff. The Apostles of the lamb needed nothing else but the Spirit of Jesus in order to do the works that Jesus did.

But before the fullness or the totality of God could dwell in a man, the man must be formed, made or built in order to be able to accommodate God within his vessels. When the Spirit of God is breathed into any disciple, he will begin to manifest and express God.

Isaiah 45 verse 9 says; "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker Does the clay say to the potter, `What are you making? 

 

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Apeh Francis Abah!

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