LORD, EQUIP ME TO FULFIL DESTINY

“For the EQUIPPING of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” – Ephesians 4:12

Beloved, please join me to meditate and pray: “LORD, EQUIP ME TO FULFIL DESTINY”! The primary purpose of the five-fold ministry gifts in the Church is the EQUIPPING of the SAINTS: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph.4:11-12). Yesterday, we discovered that though our Journey in destiny may involve transient suffering, God will surely perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us. Our meditation today focuses on the first rung of the ladder – “perfecting” or “equipping” the saints.

God extended His grace to us in choosing us before the foundation of the world and redeeming us from sin through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. We have been brought into a new relationship with Him and with one another. In Christ, we now have peace with God and brotherhood with other believers. All the barriers that separated us have been dismantled because the reason for those barriers, the sin in our lives, has been dealt with. Within the unified Body of Christ, God has also designed diversity. Each individual member of the body is given by God’s grace a spiritual gift or gifts by which to serve Him and minister to one another. God has also given gifted individuals to the Church for the “perfecting” or “equipping” of all the saints, so that everyone can effectively fulfil the work of the ministry, and the entire Body can be edified or built up (vv.11-14).

The ultimate work of the Church in the world is to be done by the saints – plain, everyday Christians – not only professional clergy or a few select elite. Christ Himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers “to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (v12 NIV). In the original Greek, the word is katartismon, from which we derive the word "artisan" – an artist or craftsman, someone who works with his hands to make or build things. This word first appears in the New Testament in connection with the calling of the disciples. As Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two pairs of brothers, Peter and Andrew, and James and John, sitting in a boat “mending” their nets. They were equipping their nets – fixing their nets, making them strong, preparing them for service, getting them ready for action! To equip also means to set a broken bone.

To “perfect” or “equip” the saints therefore means: to mend, mature, and shape-up the saints; to render them fit, sound, complete; to restore them to original condition; to transform those with limited value and use into more valuable and productive vessels, in order to better fulfil God’s designed destiny.

Beloved, God is committed to equipping, maturing, and perfecting you in faith, to fulfil His ordained plan for your life. The God of Peace and Great Shepherd of the sheep will “make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ…” (Heb.13:21). May you “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col.4:12).

The two key instruments for perfecting, preparing or equipping the saints are: the Word of God and Prayer. Acts 6:4 refers to these two fundamentals: “but we will give ourselves continually to PRAYER and to the ministry of the WORD.” When it comes to equipping the saints, nothing can be compared to the Word: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly EQUIPPED for every good work” (2Tim.3:16-17). Prayer – that’s the life blood of the Church. Prayer is spiritual breathing. A church lives or dies by its prayer life! Leonard Ravenhill said, “a preacher that is not praying is playing and a people that are not praying are straying!”