The Preserver

Thus saith the LORD, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein. (Jeremiah 6:16 kjv)

In the loins of time, God had preordained that men be custodians of the secrets of His heart, and the mandate of His kingdom as He desires to see expressed on the earth. Generations to generations have witnessed transitions of graces, power, anointing, and even structures, all of which are commonly termed “mantle” from one custodian to another.

Men in different dispensations have ‘positioned’ themselves to become carriers of certain dimensions of kingdom expression within the context of their generation, to accomplish specific tasks as needed to reveal a God who is the master architect behind it all. But although a master architect behind the kingdom project, God did not determine to accomplish anything without the partnership of the men who should become custodians. Hence the word ‘position’.

The business between God and men have always been that of availability and willingness to serve. God would not commit anything to a man who has not made himself available, and willing to execute.

Noah could only build an ark that saved a remnant from destruction because he was willing and available. God in the same vein wouldn’t have gone anywhere with Moses if, after the burning bush, he didn’t consent to confront pharaoh for the redemption and preservation of God’s Israel. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are yet another outstanding examples of men who took a position of consecration to the end that they preserved a manner of life in the day when everyone seemed to be bowing the knee. Abraham became the father of faith when he believed and set out with God to a land he knew nothing about. His obedience positioned him as a preserver of the promise of God from which nations would be born.

The end result in all of these examples is that a God order was sustained and passed down to the next generation to build upon. But sustenance cannot be achieved without a certain level of consecration, and this is where preservation comes to play. God never desired to pass down corruption, because in him is no darkness at all. And this is the reason He would stop at nothing to eliminate systems that rise contrary to His nature of righteousness and truth.

Noah, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego upheld a quality of life that positioned them as types of seeds that God would see replicated all over the earth. No wonder God didn’t have a problem with wiping out the entire Israelite camp on account of their corruption, to begin afresh with Moses as a pure breed. God was intent on preserving the quality of man Moses had become. Was he perfect in all of his ways? Not necessarily. But at that level in his walk with God, he had become a worthy custodian of God’s purposes and intent for the earth.

Our ultimate example of a preserver is Jesus, who against every form of discomfort, constraint, pain, and undeserved death, endured the cross. The sole purpose was to save and preserve a world dying of sin and portray to us a quality of life obtainable in God. But Jesus was only able to achieve this by shunning every distraction and staying true to his assignment. Although he was in the world, scripture says “the prince of this world came to him and found nothing of his in him.” (John 14:30 paraphrased). It is safe to say that Jesus knew the consecrations required to be a preserver.

So, I speak to the preserver in you today. What has God committed into your hands to do? Who is God intent on saving by keeping you here? What systems in the earth is God desiring to convert to his by the deposits he has made in you? You see, I have realized that our lives have been a journey of several preservers. From one generation of custodians to another, men have staked their lives to bear the truth of God’s word and his kingdom, so that by their sacrifices we may find a premise upon which to stand and run. But what a waste their labors would have been if we failed to do our part.

What would become of the next generation if they arrived and could not find sufficient enough a pattern to build upon? Would we have fulfilled our mandates as preservers? And how would we explain away the waste of kingdom resources so graciously lavished upon us in mercy, truth, love, and grace?

Think on these things.

Shalom!

Biyama Joseph

#TheInfluencer