THE QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED FOR IMPARTATION

It was not an accident that Joshua was chosen to receive the honor of Moses. Joshua possessed the qualifications necessary for this calling. But what were the qualifications that Joshua had which enabled him to receive the call to lead the children of Israel? Firstly, Joshua was willing to be a servant. “So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.” (Exodus 24:13) To be a minister means to serve the needs of others. Joshua looked after the needs of Moses and he was willing to do whatever Moses needed him to do. He was not an equal with Moses and did not presume, because he was always with Moses, that he had the same authority and respect. He saw the glory of God, but he knew it was a privilege and blessing which was due to Moses. His only concern was to wash the feet of the anointed man, Moses, and not work his way up to a better position. Most of God’s people are willing to serve until a “better opportunity” comes along to save them from their poor position. Impartation and power does not come by opportunity but by the willingness to serve. “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)

Only as we become servants unto God will we be able to receive the gift of impartation through the Holy Spirit. A servant knows that he has only as much power as his master gives him. He does not presume his authority unless he is an ambitious servant who is really looking for power through the right opportunity. This is not the servant that Jesus is speaking about. He is the servant who finds fulfillment in serving. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

As we are wise and faithful servants, God will make us rulers as He imparts His power as a gift to us. To receive is an important qualification of a servant because he knows that he is owner and possessor of nothing but that which he receives from his master. A true servant does not presume that the master owes him anything but realizes that he is at the mercy of the master. This humble attitude creates a grateful heart in a true servant of God who is then prepared, at the right time, to receive the impartation. “If anyone thinks he amounts to something when in fact he is nothing, he is only deceiving himself. Each man should look to his conduct if he has reason to boast of anything, it will be because his achievement is his and not another.” (Galatians 6:3, 4 – New American translation).

Being a servant to Moses, was the foundation upon which Joshua could fortify his calling to receive the impartation from Moses.

Secondly, Joshua wanted an authentic experience of God. “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp but his servant Joshua, The son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.” (Exodus 33:11) In the heights of Moses’ experience with God as He revealed His glory to Moses and spoke to him as His friend, Joshua was satisfied to stay in the tabernacle and experience the glory of God.

It is very important that we are not satisfied to walk in the glory of another man’s achievement. Sometimes, by association with truly great ministries, people who want to serve, deceive themselves in thinking that they have the same relationship with God as the anointed and fall short of their calling. Sometimes, they can even fall into sin through presumption of ability that they do not possess, because they are not willing to pay the price to stay behind to have an authentic experience with God, even if they lose the admiration of others.

Many people come to me and ask me how they can have a ministry. The next thing they wonder about is how I can move into places where women are traditionally not accepted. Let me illustrate the answer through Joshua’s life.

Joshua stayed behind. To stay behind means to be willing to humble ourselves before God and men to have an authentic experience of who God is and who we are. This also means that Joshua was not looking for the right opportunity by serving Moses, but he knew that in order to serve the anointed, he had to have the anointing of God. At that glorious moment when Moses came out from the presence of God, Joshua had a choice. He could have gone with Moses to bathe in Moses’ glory and give the impression that he too, had a part in this glory or, he could stay behind to have his own true touch of God in the tabernacle.

In His Love,
      Sigi

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