Have you ever wondered how the kingdom of God really works? I have. Is there a template or process which explains how you can appropriate all of the graces and gifts of God? If so, what is that template?
You may already be familiar with the term, activation, as it is often used with making a bank card or a credit card operational. But biblical activation is different in that it is the spiritual process of stirring up the truth or gift which is within or upon you, making it become operational. This process applies to all of the gifts and graces of God such as eternal life, Holy Spirit baptism, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, manifesting the gifts of the Spirit, and more.
Well, there is such a process. It is called biblical Activation and it has very broad application in your Christian life.
Activation makes what God has appropriated active and operational in your life. What’s true about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life does not automatically become active and operational in you; these truths, graces, and gifts must be activated. The process of activation fulfills the scriptural commands:
Stir up [or activate] the gift of God which is in you. . . 2 Tim. 1:6 NKJV (brackets mine)
Do not neglect [or do not fail to activate] the gift that is in you. . . I Tim. 4:14 NKJV (brackets mine)
The four steps of activation are: HEAR the Word, BELIEVE the Word, SPEAK/CONFESS the Word, and finally TAKE ACTION – fully activating the Word. The first three steps are the preparation and foundation, and the fourth is the real act of activation. Activation is the process described in the verses below.
The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart – that is the word of faith which we are preaching [hear the word], that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord [speak the word], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead [believe the word], you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation [the activation]. . . faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word [rhema] of Christ. Rom. 10:8-10, 17 (brackets mine)
. . .whoever says [speak the word]. . . and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen [believes the word], it will be granted [activated to] him. Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted [activated] you. Mark 11:23-24 (brackets mine)
The Greek rhema means a “spoken word” from God.
The four steps of biblical activation can be likened to the four bases of baseball. Getting to first base is hearing the word. Getting to second base is believing the word. Proceeding to third base is speaking the word. And finally, getting to home plate is taking action and fully activating the word to full operation. Unless a grace, truth, or a gift gets fully activated, it does not count as crossing home place – and is therefore unfruitful, dead, of no effect (James 1 and 2). So let us seek to bring each word that the Lord gives us to full activation in our life.
The Scope of Activation
The concept of Activation applies to every major area of the Christian life. Activation is how the Kingdom of God operates. Again, the Activation process applies to all of the gifts and graces of God. Here is a sampling of scope of biblical activation:
In the next several posts, we will unpack the steps in the Activation process.
Prayer
I declare that I will learn and use the biblical process of activation in all areas of my life. I will activate all of the graces, truths, and gifts which the Holy Spirit prompts me to make operational in my life. I will activate in my life what God has appropriated for my life as recorded in Scripture. In Jesus Name, Amen!
Adapted from my new book, Activating the Present-Day Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Xulon Press.