Spheres of Operations in the Spirit
Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser
Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town, 6th August 2023

“The Holy Spirit has a gift for you, with a miraculous quality, that brings deliverance from danger. Jesus will give you an administration – to perform a good service to bring relief to mankind on behalf of God. God will give you a spiritual operation – to show who you really are by being powerfully active and efficient in your spiritual work.”

How do we locate the gravitational orbit around Christ where we thrive and bear much fruit?
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

To continue our series on the gifts of the Spirit, here are the next spheres to operate in:
Rom 12:8
“he who exhorts, in exhortation;
he who gives, with liberality;
he who leads, with diligence;
he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

1. Sphere of Exhortation
We covered this in an earlier segment: Exhortation is a “instructive, admonitory, conciliatory, powerful hortatory discourse” and a calling near for help, or to offer help. Thayer’s Greek Definition G3874

2. Sphere of giving. Giving requires a liberal and generous soul.
There is an awareness that God can provide enough fro us all under the sun.
A covetous spirit prevents you from being generous. It robs both the intended giver and receiver. Learnt to celebrate each other. Help others reach their dreams and see how your dreams happen. If you help God with His Dream, he will make your dreams come true.

3. Sphere of Leadership
Diligence is the desired quality to complement a leader. Please read my book on Developing the Leader within, it covers so much of the defining moments in my life that helped to develop the leader in me. I hope to inspire and develop as many leaders as possible because the Lord showed me the harvest is great and we need to raise up more leaders for His kingdom who understand His plans, share His love and develop others into their full potential.

Pro_10:4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Slack Hand remı̂yâh H7423 BDB Definition:
1) laxness, slackness, slackening, deceit, treachery

Diligent: H2742 chârûts BDB Definition:
1) sharp-pointed, sharp, diligent (adjective)
2) strict decision, decision (noun masculine)
3) trench, moat, ditch (noun masculine)
4) gold (poetical) (noun masculine)

We realized that even though some work hard, their effort is slack because they did not bother to sharpen their skills and receive instruction and coaching to taper their gifts and talents!

More Scriptures about diligence:
(2Ch 29:34) But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.

Psa 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.
Pro 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.
Pro 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
Pro 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
Pro 27:23 Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds;

In the New Testament we have some good examples of how diligence can be developed:
Application in the Word:
(2Ti 2:15) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Diligent visitation and correspondence:
(2Ti 4:9) Be diligent to come to me quickly;

Consistent application in the rest of faith:
(Heb 4:11) Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
G4704 spoudazō spoo-dad’-zo
From G4710; to use speed, that is, to make effort, be prompt or earnest: – do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endeavour, labour, study.
Related Word: G4692 speudō spyoo’-do Thayer Definition:
1) to haste, make haste
2) to desire earnestly
From G4228; to “speed” (“study”), that is, urge on (diligently or earnestly); by implication to await eagerly: – (make, with) haste unto.
Personal note: I realized later in life that one of my values is speed! I love to run fast and although my physical speed has decreased a bit, there is a desire in me to speed things up and get things done quickly. I paint fast, reply as fast as I can. I wish I could apply it in all areas that is where the Holy Spirit is teaching me how to be patient and run the marathons!

4. Sphere of Mercy. The corresponding quality of mercy is cheerfulness. There is nothing worse than a cruel person showing mercy reluctantly! Even the mercies of the wicked are cruel:
Pro_12:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Psa_40:11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

James 2:13 Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Jesus showed mercy.
Mat 12:7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE MERCY AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Joh 8:10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
Joh 8:11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.

Apostle Paul understood the mercy of God:
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
1Ti 1:16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

When operating in different spheres of the gifts of the Spirit, the attitude with which we operate reflects the character of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit too. This makes the administration of the gifts an extension of Christ to his body, the church.

Take a moment to reflect on your gifts and functions and take a short survey with us to help you reflect on the unique gift and function you have in the Church. Highlight some of the prophetic words God has given you and identify areas where you can function in a local church. We would love to hear from you if you have not already fill in the Form at this link:

https://forms.office.com/r/Qg6CY0YG3p

Grace and peace

Apostle Aje Pelser