But Who Are You?

The open manifestation of a feat is never spontaneous, but an outcome of a series of preparation ahead of time.

When the day of reckoning comes, the performance of the day would be a function of the prior judicial investment of resources in preparation.

We should never envy the results other people produce and decide to copy them if we have no idea what they do to generate such results and have the discipline to engage our selves in such preparation.

Such is the case of the seven sons of Sceva as reported in Acts 19.

They have seen the great works done by Apostle Paul and they thought to themselves, what is the big deal? We can do likewise.

They saw the process but they didn’t understand the fundamental principles. To them, just call the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, and boom, miracles!

A question we may ask is, the Bible says at the mention of the name every knee shall bow, every tongue confesss….(Philippians 2:10&11), why didn’t the demons scamper for safety at the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches as called out by those guys?

Or we quote Rom 10:13, ….whosoever call on His name shall be saved.

When we look into the scripture, we find answers. God is our Father and also a just Judge (Psalm 7:11, 68:5). He operates in both capacities. As our Father, He expresses His love towards us and watches over His words to bring them to pass.

As a Judge, He ensures Justice is served to all.

The two reference scriptures have contextual meaning if we look at the preceding verses. Before Jesus was bestowed the honour of having a name above every other name, it is recorded that He humbled himself to the point of death. How then can we think that we can just call on the name because the Bible says every knee bows and we expect they will truly bow to us when we are not as humble as Jesus in our dealings?

Or, how do we imagine that we can call on the name without having faith in the name and expect result? Some of us are so used to the name that it is more like an exclamation mark, it has lost its power, yet, when we found ourselves in critical times, we scream it out. As what please? A fearful exclamation or a powerful name we believe in?

This is where God as a Judge comes in. He is fair in His dealings.

Sceva sons did not realize that Paul had the legal right to use the name of Jesus because of his walk with God, but who were they before God? Did they have the legal right to use the name?

We need to examine ourselves too if we have the right to confront our challenges with the power in the name of Jesus so that the challenge will not ask us …. but who are you?.

If we have opened ourselves to sin, the accuser of brethren has the right to bring an accusation against us before God and until we cancel the accusation by obtaining mercy, we may continue to pray and not get an answer from God the Father who is also a just God.

This is why many times we don’t overcome our challenges in the place of prayer. The challenge is probably asking, “but who are you to call me out?”

God bless you.

Akindele Afolabi

Christian Employee Series

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