The Measure of Jesus Christ

A: DISPENSING YOUR GIFT

Ephesians 4:4-11

4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.

5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

8. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

11. And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers.

Each gift is a measure of Jesus Christ that is given unto you and dispensed into your life.

He said He gave some the gift of apostleship, meaning the measure of Christ (the grace of God) which was dispensed in the life of that person was the gift of apostleship.

Whether the gift is that of the prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher, the measure that individual receives is the measure God has dispensed for that particular gift.

These gifts are given to everyone of us according to the measure of Christ Jesus we allow to take place inside us. This measure is the amount of influence we allow in our lives, and it is this influence that will complete us and perfect us in Christ. The ultimate goal of this influence is to change the disposition of our minds. I discovered in Romans 7:25, that it is with my mind that I serve the Lord. If Satan has control of my mind, and is influencing my thinking, I will not be able to serve the Lord in the gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, administrator, helps, exhorters or intercession.

Every area I am not influenced in, means I am incomplete in that area. We are striving to become complete in Christ, so that there will not be any area of our lives the devil can control; even though he can still try to neutralize us in our service. It is very important that we understand that our gift is dependent upon the measure of Christ we allow. It is that measure of influence which will make us complete in Christ.

KNOWLEDGE VERSUS GODLY INFLUENCE

I have learned over the years from my experiences as a pastor, that many saints interpret their knowledge as Godly influence. This is a great deception, and very prevalent in the church world today. Many feel their knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is revelation and influence. There is a distinct difference in what we learn from studying, and revelation.

Get this in your spirit so you can identify it in your own life, and in the lives of others to whom you will minister. There are many who can quote scripture, have knowledge and understanding and they are equating this with influence. Knowledge is not necessarily influence. When we deal with the spiritual definition of knowledge, which means to experience, we find that even our experiences do not often result in Godly influence. Many people have experienced several negative situations; however these experiences did not necessarily mean God influenced the person; nor did the severity of the attack of the enemy or of their own fleshy mind, cause those experiences to result in Godliness. We must understand, that from each of our experiences, experiential knowledge must be gained. This knowledge is not gained unless we are influenced righteously by the experience itself.

You may be going through negative experiences and have been going through such since you were born into God. You need to examine yourself and see if these experiences have, or are, influencing you unto Godliness:

• Can you only say, “I’ve been through a lot,” or “The enemy has been working against me.”

If your testimony is “The Lord has brought me through,” then you did not gain the experiential knowledge needed to be a transmitter. All you can tell someone else is, “God will bring you through” or “just hold on.” You have not looked at those negative experiences and said:

• Let me discern where the enemy was, where God was and where I was.

• Let me discern how I got caught in the snare and how I helped the enemy when he presented himself.

• Let me discern how I responded to the enemy.

• Let me discern when God showed up and how I responded to Him?

• Did God warn me and did I respond to His warning?

In all these experiences, take spiritual note. When you do, it becomes wisdom. Your discerning of your trials, knowledge and experiences become wisdom. Wisdom is how to operate the knowledge gained in the experiences.

Even before you knew God, He was a part of all your experiences. He upholds all things and is omniscient and omnipresent (present

everywhere at all times and in all things). Your life being predestined by God, means He had a hand in everything you have been doing. God has always been there. Because you are of God, you are spiritual. You now have the ability to:

• Operate as a spiritual being. This eliminates time and distance and among other things, means you now have the ability to redeem the time in your own life. You can go back and look at those experiences you had before you met God and discern those situations.

• You can then extract wisdom from those experiences which will then be valuable in your ministering to others. (This is what is meant by being a transmitter of life.)

• With the character of God, and with Faith, (the Spirit of God), operating in you, you have the ability to discern the captivities you were in, how you got into them and how God brought you out.

Every son of God must mature to a point where he or she can show others how to defeat the enemy and grow in God. It is only at this point, that a person has been influenced by the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:13

But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

What is our aim?

Our aim is to press to obtain the greatest measure of Christ we can receive. However, we must realize our greatest hindrance is in the disposition of our minds. If we ever get our minds under Godly control, we can work for God. You may be physically and intellectually able to get the job done, you may have all the know-how, but there is something hollow about you, if you have not been influenced in certain areas of your life. Because of that lack of influence, Satan has access to you. The very door you have left open allows Satan to come in, gain access to all areas and neutralize your ministry, therefore making it of non-effect.

Ephesians 4:11-12

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, pastors; and some, evangelists; and some, teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ . . .

We have to work the ministry until the return of Christ Jesus. We must work in the area of ministry where the amount of influence (faith) we have received carries us. As we move inside the areas of ministry and serve faithfully, we become candidates to work in the Messianic ministry; the ultimate ministry. Sonship is being able to occupy, rule and reign in the royal priesthood during the Messianic Kingdom.

I remember when the Lord had the Determinate Council of B.T. International meet for sixty-six days. At the end of the sixty-six days, the Lord spoke to me and said the rest of our training would be in service; working the ministry. As I took my place as the apostle, the prophets, the evangelists, pastors, teachers, helps, governors and administrators took their places and began to minister. My apostleship began to rebound from the people with whom I was working. What I was ministering began to rebound back to me and I was increased by it. I was increased by the rebounding of my own ministry. In service I am being made complete; by my obedience to the ministry set before me. Every one of us is being perfected, but we still have to move into our calling. There has to be an influence in our lives and that measure (amount) of influence must be revealed in ministry.

B: THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST

Ephesians 4:13

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

When Paul mentioned the fullness of Christ, he was talking about the power, the presence, the agency and the administration of Jesus Christ. How is this fullness seen? It is not seen simply because I am saved, and therefore have the presence of God living in me, by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Even though I am secure in the above elementary definition of presence, there is a deeper definition that implies He is working with me in all that I do. This was the concern of the apostles. The scripture said that they went out into all the world, the Lord working with them.

St. Mark 16:20

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

You are not going to be successful in ministry until He is working with and in you. There have been times when I have had to stop all ministry activities, because God was not working with us. We determined to stand still until we started moving inside of His working. We were doing too much on our own and making our own decisions.

THE POWER OF GOD

For a ministry to succeed, you must move under the power of God. Faith is the effectual working of God's power in you. Faith will move you into the apostolic ministry. He is looking to change the disposition of your mind and is always aware of your mindsets.

If He is going to use you, He has to deal with your mind. He is always aware of your thoughts. He said:

• I have searched your thoughts and your heart.

• I know how you feel and I know when your feelings are contrary to my Word.

• I know when your thoughts are not My thoughts and I know when they are full of iniquity.

• I know when you are allowing my influence and I know when you are not.

• I am always conscious of the disposition of your mind.

In a ministry such as BTI, where this kind of Word is being taught, if you are not growing, sin lies at your door. It is time to face this fact. In a ministry like this, you have no cloaks. You have nothing to hide behind. One thing is guaranteed. When God has influenced you, no one can stop Him from using you. No one has that power. God has declared that your gift, that measure (amount of influence) that you have received, will make room for itself. You do not need to make room for it. If you are not growing, it is because sin is operating in you somewhere. God will not let you move until He gets the sin out.

I had to face that a long time ago. I always knew when God had me on hold and when He wasn’t working with me. I couldn’t move until I submitted. I had to examine myself to see what sin He wanted to cleanse me of. I may not have been in fornication, or speaking profanities, but the disposition of my mind was not right. My thoughts and my motives were not right, and God being a good Father had to chasten me. He chastens everyone He loves. The love of the Father will bring you face to face with the disposition of your mind.

POWER TO BECOME SONS

St. John 1:12

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Most of us are looking for God to give us some special anointing (power) to work miracles, and we feel the only evidence of having received power is when we are able to accomplish things like raising the dead or healing the sick. Then you will say you are sure God visited you. However, this power you are to receive, is the power to become Sons (St. John 1:12). This is the power to be as Christ: the anointed one. Once the power of God has worked in you, to transform you into His image, you, too, will become an anointed one. This is all done by influence.

THE AGENCY OF GOD

The agency and administrations of God are the manifestations of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost manifests Himself on two levels.

1. One level of manifestation is the gifts given by the Spirit (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers). These are the administrative offices through which the Spirit of God flows into the Body. In addition to these five-fold frame workers, there are the exhorters, the governments, the administrations, the helps and the intercessors.

2. The second level of manifestation of the Holy Ghost is what most people call the nine gifts of the Spirit, which are:

Word of Wisdom

The Word of Wisdom is given when you need God’s wisdom to be revealed inside of a circumstance, situation or relationship. This Word may be given to comfort, settle your heart, instruct or even rebuke.

Word of Knowledge

The Word of Knowledge is insight that comes from God to speak of things that only He could have revealed. It is given to bring an individual to a place of belief.

Faith

Faith is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit inside the life of the believer. However, the individual with the gift of Faith will believe God for any manifestation of the supernatural.

Spirit of Discernment

This gift gives you the ability to discern from what you hear, see or observe. This observation may be either tangible or intangible. It may be from what is actually spoken or from what was not spoken (the void).

Prophecy

The gift of Prophecy is the demonstration of God’s power and wisdom. It exalts Christ, His redemptive work and sets the divine character of God’s revealed Word.

The Gift of Healing

A supernatural cure of the physical, mental and spiritual disposition of man.

The Gift of Miracles

Miracles are used to prove and establish the power of God to the onlookers. They are also a supernatural work that cannot be produced by natural agents or means. The work may be physical or spiritual.

St. John 10:38

But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Divers Kinds of Tongues

The supernatural gift of speaking in another language without it having been learned.

1 Corinthians 14:22

Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

Interpretation of Tongues

The supernatural gift to give the understanding of what was spoken in an unknown tongue in order that the Body of Christ can be edified.

The agency and administration relate to the channeling of the power of God. This will help you to understand your calling and how it is going to be funneled to the Body of Christ. First, there are the five-fold gifts, which are governmental offices inside of the Body of Christ. That’s what makes them the agency through which the Holy Ghost channels His power. Not only are the five-fold considered offices, but they are considered agencies and gifts. Jesus said in Ephesians 4:8, "I gave gifts unto men . . .," so the agency of God is channeled through the gifts. These are the real gifts. Manifestations of the Holy Ghost operate through the gifts.

When the Holy Ghost has made a minister, He is able to manifest Himself through the individual He has made. The Holy Ghost makes you an apostle, evangelist, a prophet, pastor or teacher. How? He influences, leads, guides or carries you into your office.

RESPECTING GOD’S ORDER

The greatest gifts given by Jesus Christ were the offices. These offices have one purpose and that is to produce sons. The greatest operation of your office is neither the working miracles, or healings. These are only by-products. The greatest manifestation of the office is your ability to produce sons.

In your attempt to develop sons, whenever you need manifestations of healing and miracles, they are given. This is how the Spirit will flow through the Body of Christ. Many churches are scattered about with no power, because there is no administration. The government of God on the earth, which is the five-fold ministry, has not been set in place. There is a lot of internal rebellion against the government. Any time you disrespect these five-fold offices, you are in rebellion. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are set in the Body to perfect the saints of God. Many times because of internal rebellion, these ministers cannot do their job.

1 Corinthians 12:3-7

3. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

4. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Ephesians 4:14-15

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.

C: HEIRS OF GOD, JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST

Galatians 4:1-3

1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

2. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

You are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. But, you were in bondage and held captive by the elements of the world. That's why you have to be put under tutors and governors: this is the purpose of the five-fold ministry.

The five-fold ministry is in place to mature you. You will remain useless to the Lord as long as you allow yourself to be captive to the elements of the world.

Our job is to:

• Raise you above those elements

• Loose you from those captivities

• Raise you up so you are no longer useless and incomplete

Paul said when he was a child he acted like a child, thought like a child, talked like a child, and responded like a child. But when he became a man, he put away childish things, and he took on the responsibilities of his manhood. There is a concentrated effort on the part of the ministerial staff of BTI to mature you, but we are only going to be able do this as you allow the grace of God to influence you.

The greatest miracle is to create a son! Give God a son! You have to become one yourself before you can reproduce one. You will never give God what He wants if you do not become a son. He does not care about your eloquence and other abilities. He wants you to be able to develop a son. It takes a new disposition; an influenced mind to do this. Otherwise, you are going to be tossed to and fro. You have not been influenced until you can take all of your negative experiences; and discern them and see whether you’ve been influenced by God.

Saints, we are at a point now where this is our life. My only existence now, is to give my Father what He wants. You have been given a sufficient amount of grace. Now you have to take inventory of yourself. If one of the ministers can give you a truth that affects you negatively, you were already incomplete. All they did was to reveal this to you. We have to deal with where we are. God is looking for some sons now: people who have been influenced by Him. He needs those who can complete their training on the field. It does not matter if you do not have any experience as a pastor. God will teach you. You have to decide how badly you want to serve the Father.

It is not about reputation. It is not about money. There is, however, a fulfillment in satisfying the Father. It’s like nothing you have ever experienced. All the money in the world cannot give you the satisfaction you get from knowing you have done what God wanted you to do, and that you have influenced another life and changed that life.

God is doing something with us. There are hearts God is touching. There are some who are discovering they can be more than they ever thought they could be, and that they can be valuable to God.

EVERY JOINT SUPPLIES

Ephesians 4:16

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The disposition of your mind is so important because every joint supplies something to the other joints. What you are going to supply, is what has been developed in you, by the effectual working of God’s power. Your measure is the amount of influence in you, and you have to supply it to the next joint, who may even be out of place. The effectual working of the Holy Ghost through you, can bring you where you are to be fitly joined in the Body. There are some joints in the Body that are not fitted. Ignorance, false doctrines, divisions and rebellion in the Body of Christ take the joints out of place.

You have a responsibility to supply every joint with what it needs. You have the responsibility to allow the effectual working of God's power, through that agency, or the gift God gave you, to be channeled to individuals who are not in the Body so they can be brought in and fitly joined.

D: WHAT DETERMINES MY MEASURE?

Ephesians 4:7

Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Jesus Christ operated in the five-fold ministry gifts. He was the Chief Apostle, the Prophet, the Shepherd (Pastor), the Evangelist who saves and He was the Teacher (the rabbi). All the gifts were in Christ. These gifts come by the measure of grace dispensed in your life. In other words, if you will be used in the apostleship or the office of the prophet, pastor, evangelist or teacher, it will be according to the grace of God. This is how much influence has been effectual in your life, which is reflected by how much you have applied the Word to your everyday situations, circumstances and relationships. That influence determines the measure you receive of Jesus Christ to minister. The ministry in your life depends on how much Christ has influenced you.

HOW DO I MEASURE THIS INFLUENCE?

• How do I know how much grace has been dispensed in my life?

• How do I know how much of this grace I've absorbed?

My mindsets tell me whether I have been influenced by God or not. The purpose of this influence (grace) is to create the mind of Christ in me. When this influence comes from heaven, it has one objective, and that is to make me like Christ. The more of this grace or influence I receive from God, the more I am going to become like Jesus Christ. Therefore, as I take on His likeness by absorbing the influence that comes from heaven, I am now a candidate for one of these gifts to operate through me.

God knows me. He knows what experiences I have had in my life and He knows what I experienced before I met Him. Because of the influence and knowledge I have received from heaven, I am able to gain experiential knowledge in order to operate in the knowledge of God. Since God upholds all things, there is nothing that exists that God does not uphold. God is contained in all things and is a part of everything I have experienced, even before I met Him. He even predestined them. Now that I am His, and have obtained a knowledge of God (God being in all things, upholding all things and having been in my situations before I met Him), I can glean experiential knowledge from these experiences. God can now put an anointing on the experiential knowledge I gleaned from those past situations, circumstances and relationships.

WISDOM: THE OPERATION OF KNOWLEDGE

The knowledge I have received of God also gives me wisdom dispensed through God’s grace. As I receive the knowledge, wisdom allows me to look back and:

• Discern how I came out, and why it took me so long to find Him.

• Discern what kept me out in the world and the captivity of the enemy. (I did not understand because I did not know I was captive.) Now with the knowledge of God, I can see what the devil used to hold me. I can see how he tied the cords and when I was about to break free he put another cord around me.

• I can now look at all of that, and see and understand what happened: I can see my captivity, my attitude, the spirit of pride that was operating in me, the greed and wantonness, and I can see all the iniquities that separated me from God.

• I can now understand these experiences and have the knowledge of God which upheld all things even then.

• I can look back because there is no time or distance in the spirit world and redeem the time. Why do I need to redeem the time in my own life? Now that I can discern these things, they become experiential knowledge to me and God can now put an anointing on them to become life to someone else. God is developing us as sons, and He knows a son must be able to reproduce. He starts out giving us knowledge, understanding and wisdom. It is wisdom that gives you the ability to reproduce, not your knowledge.

Wisdom is the operation of knowledge. If you do not understand how to make the knowledge fruitful, you will not be productive. Wisdom is the operation of the Word. The Holy Ghost will take all these things you have done both before and after you met God, and categorize them; showing you the effects they have on you and how they aided in your captivity. He also shows you how you aided the devil in your own captivity. Then He shows you how to break free. This is the wisdom extracted out of the knowledge. You have to listen to the Word in order to enter into this measure, that is determined by influence. The influence God is going to have on you will come through knowledge, understanding, revelation, and the wisdom in the knowledge and revelation of Jesus Christ.

The knowledge, wisdom, revelation and understanding of Jesus Christ in your life must supersede everything else that has influenced you. You must be thoroughly influenced by Jesus Christ in every area of your life, and this influence will determine the measure (gift) you receive.

E: RESTRICTIONS WITHIN THE MEASURE

Ephesians 4:15-16

15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Every member of the body is compacted with at least one gift. That which you have been compacted with is crying to do the will of the Father. Flesh has opposed being influenced to an effectual completeness. The penalty for not allowing the influence to effect you is to watch God use others. However, there is nothing that the inner man wants to do other than serve His God.

If you walk in the anointing, you will be effective wherever you go. Whatever God allows you to do or effect, is determined by your humility and submission to His Word. Humility must be present for the power of God to operate through us. Our humility expands the measure of the gift and determines whether God is going to use you to effect His purpose. That determination is based partly on how I see myself. Do I see myself as some great thing or just as a vessel blessed enough to be chosen to be used by God?

Anything God gave man to do for Him from the day He created him is going to be accomplished by God, Himself. You are just the vessel He will use to carry it out. God has always accomplished His purpose in the earth by His Spirit.

Each of us in the Body is compacted with a measure. This measure not only includes those souls we will reach for God, but also the physical location in which we are to serve. Even though God may have defined a specific measure for an individual, our negative spiritual disposition can hinder us from accomplishing all that God has purposed for us to accomplish, and causes God to place restrictions within our measure.

God will not bargain with us. He is not going to allow us to continue within our measure when He knows He has sufficiently influenced us. We may still be operating in the service of the Lord, but can be emotionally traumatized and offended. How you pass your tests is more important than how hard you press to serve. If you are inside a negative disposition, then you press in unrighteousness. Your heart is impure and thereby your service is defiled.

The walls of partition that block our measure, must be torn down and the boundaries lifted, before God will remove the restrictions He has placed on the measure of our gift. There is a measure that is according to your several abilities; which is relative to what you comprehend of God.

How do we remove the restrictions within the measure? Restrictions within the measure can be removed by complete and total self-denial. This simply means coming into agreement with God’s Word and giving ourselves completely over to His purpose, plan and will for our lives.

Genesis 25:31-34

31. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

33. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

You cannot present God with an “Esau” spirit: Esau repented and wept because he lost his birthright, but he was not sorry for the act of sin against God that caused him to lose it. He was only grieved because of his loss.

When God puts boundaries on us we know they are there. Be honest with yourself. All too often we already know wherein the problem lies. We know whether we are greedy, dishonest or not in complete submission to Him. If you, as Esau, are only sorry for the restrictions, God will not relieve or loose you. You must be sorry for your negative disposition and disobedience to God.

God knows when He has influenced a man; therefore, He is justified if He laughs at our calamities (Prov. 1:26-27). He knows when He has reached you. God would never destroy anything before He has influenced it. He makes sure that you understand His mindset concerning any issue in your life.

St. Matthew 16:24

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Each of us must pick up our cross to follow Jesus. Since our home is our training ground, guess who may be sitting on your cross? Yes, it may be your spouse or one of your children. It may be a parent or that brother or sister with whom you have always been the closest. Some of us have tried to move ahead without our cross. However, we need to turn around and pick it up. We cannot travel without it, and God is faithful to provide everyone with a cross.

In following Jesus, our press toward the high calling to glorify God, should not be because of struggle with sin. Our struggle in the press, should be in picking up self-willed people and carrying them with us. The struggle itself, should not be our cross.

F: OBEDIENCE: THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES OF GOD

The church has erroneously structured itself to allow the pastor to decide who holds positions in the church. Pastors do not have the right to decide your calling.

Again, your calling to the ministry will be determined by the influence of God's grace in your life--the influence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Once you have been influenced by Christ, no one can stop God from using you. That is why the Word says your gift will make room for you. Knowledge, understanding, revelation and wisdom is only given through obedience. As you obey the initial dispensing of the Word, you will begin to obtain the depths in the mysteries of God. If you do not obey the elementary, you will not find the depths. This comes only through submission.

There are many people who have obtained knowledge, but have no revelation. There are some people who have revelation but no wisdom. Why? Because it is hidden from them. You can read and obtain knowledge, but the reason you cannot read to obtain revelation and wisdom, is because it is only found in the mind and heart of God. In order to get revelation and wisdom, you must enter into God's heart and mind and you cannot enter in without obedience. Obedience is what takes you into God's heart. As you obey the Word, you enter into the heart of God and become a partaker of His mind. He will release unto you the hidden mysteries, the hidden manna, but only through obedience and submission. If you do not enter into submission, you will never receive this wisdom and revelation. All you will be able to do is read and receive the letter of the Word, but you will not be able to operate in it.

The five-fold ministry is the frame and everything else sits on that frame: the muscle tissues, the sinews and the skin. When we are talking about moving into the apostleship, the office of the prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, it is strictly based upon the measure

of faith (influence received). The gift of God is given to you in proportion to the measure of the gift of Christ; and that measure is determined by how much God has influenced you.

HOW WILL YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED?

God’s influence in your life is going to be determined by the disposition of your mind. God always knows where you are in Him. He knows your mind. The devil does not know your mind, but he will try to feed your mind. God knows exactly what you will do when given a set of circumstances. He knows whether you will fail or whether you will succeed. So, what is the job of the Holy Ghost?

Faith is the operation of the Holy Ghost. He has one purpose, and that is to influence us by grace: the effectual working of God's power inside us. Faith's only purpose is to bring me into the mind of Christ. Every now and then the Holy Ghost is going to allow you to enter into circumstances to reveal to us the disposition of your mind. God knows your disposition. He knows what you are thinking. He knows what your response will be to any given situation. The Holy Spirit is always setting up situations and circumstances that will reveal the disposition of your mind. Every situation you enter into; every trial and test, is to reveal the disposition of your mind; to show you how far you are from the mind of Christ.

Most saints erroneously believe that God only does this with "big" situations. Actually He will do this right in your house.

Here are some of the everyday situations God may use to reveal your mindset:

1. He will allow your husband to say something to you and expose the fact you will respond the wrong way.

2. He will allow your children to do something to show the disposition of your mind.

3. He will withhold things from you, to reveal your response.

4. He will take you past your deadline. What is the disposition of your mind when you go past the deadline?

5. He will bless you. This is the most subtle testing. What is the disposition of your mind while you are being blessed?

• Are you seeking God as much now as you were when you did not have anything?

• Are you praying as much? Are you studying as much? He will allow the circumstances to reveal the disposition of your mind.

• Your daily routines, dispositions, the way you entreat people and the way you respond to how you are entreated, will reveal how much influence God has in your life.

The revelation of the disposition of your mind is very important, because as Paul pointed out to us, it is “with my mind I serve the law of God.” Whoever controls your mind, controls your body. Whoever controls the disposition of your mind, controls your service. If Satan controls your mind, you are going to yield your members to sin. But if the Lord can influence your mind, you can serve Him. Without that you cannot serve Him. You can desire to serve Him, and envy those who do, but you cannot serve Him of yourself. Why? Because your mind is influenced by Satan.

People sit in the church frustrated because they are waiting for their gift to operate. But it will not operate, because it only operates by the measure of Jesus Christ. How much influence does Jesus have on your life? Is He really Lord over all, or just Lord over a few areas? Often we think the pastor is holding us back, and will not use us. But it is God who will not use you! God will not loose your ministry and allow you to go forth and minister.

MINISTRY: AN ANOINTED SERVICE

Ministry is only an anointing on that which is within. You are going to serve the Body of Christ with that which is within you. If you are sent to another country to pastor or teach, you cannot depend on what is in someone else. Ministry is an anointed service. It is an anointing placed on what has been developed in the individual who is ministry.

Some people in the church are very dutiful, in good standing with the pastor and get along with everyone. A position might become open in the church and it might appear obvious that you should be selected, because you have been faithful and dutiful. If the pastor puts you in that situation and six months later you fall into a very negative circumstance and begin whining and complaining, what happens to the people you are leading? At that moment what can you say to them? How can you minister to them? What do you have to tell them?

As you are being developed in this measure, the disposition of your mind is being developed into the measure of Jesus Christ. There are going to be times when you want to be weak. There were times when I was strong and hated my strength. I wanted to be weak. I was tired of being strong. There may be times when you too, will become weary of everyone looking to you for answers. You will want to look to someone for your answers even though you already have the answers. Why? Because you have a revelation of Jesus Christ, but you just do not want to walk in it. You are tired. The disposition of your mind is being revealed. The beautiful thing about God is that He will develop you on the job without the people around you being hurt too badly. He wants you to develop this measure and the only way you are going to be developed is by more influence being sent to your mind.

Every time God reveals the disposition of your mind, it is so you will seek Him for more influence. God will show you where and how you will not allow Him to be strong in you. Many of your trials and failures are to reveal the dispositions of your mind for it is with your mind that you are going to serve the Lord. When God influences you, you change. You will not be the same person any longer.

God is trying to tell us that having the measure of Jesus Christ is a prerequisite to our ministry becoming a reality. Saints, we can change.

God bless you,

Apostle Mary Banks