We live in a time of great outreaches to peoples and nations, hitherto,
did not welcome the Word of God, the workings and demonstrations of the power
of God by the Holy Spirit, unprecedented miracles and many more. We see God
doing tremendous things in and through the lives of His children and He desires
to do much more. Unfortunately, very few are tapping into this great and
awesome move of God in these times, thus, rendering them impotent when faced
with the lures of darkness. One of the reasons for such is that many children
of God fail to understand that for every power and authority given there is a
responsibility attached to it: A jurisdiction, an instruction and a principle
of application for it to achieve the desired effect. We see this principle of
God throughout Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation in the lives of Noah,
Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Esther, Jesus Christ our Lord, Paul and many
other clouds of witnesses. Friend, we cannot want the power and authority of
God and then deny the responsibility that comes with it. Another reason why so
many are succumbing to the lures of darkness is that many had failed to
understand that the authority we are given by God is a delegated authority.
What this simply means is that for exercising such power and authority, we need
to return back to the Giver to teach us how to use it, and when done, we must
be ready to give account of how it was used.
This lack of understanding in the
use of the authority and power of God given to the children of God despite the
miracles, exploits and wealth, has made so many become arrogant, abrogate
authority to themselves that God never gave them, lord over the sheep, muddy
the pure water of the gospel of Christ; as a result, we see so many in the
Body, despite the power, authority and wealth, spiraling into a mire of flesh and
worldliness. One cannot listen to news without hearing of one scandal or the
other involving the children of God. Jesus
Christ in Matthew 10 did something that is a standard and pattern for following
Him as a disciple. The Bible states that just before He sent them out, He
called the disciples first to Himself and then gave them power and authority,
after which he gave them specific instructions as to how to execute the
authority and power he had given them. The gospel of Mark delved deeper into
this call: “And He went up on the
mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then
He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them
out to preach and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons”
(Mark 3:13-15, NKJV). One would notice that for every time the disciples are
sent out, they return to give a report to the Master. In the above quoted
Scripture, it is not only for disciples to have power and authority, Jesus
Christ desired that they would ‘remain’ with Him: after they are done, they
will return to Him to be refreshed. That is the mandate! This principle we see
in Psalm 24:3, when the Psalmist asked “Who
may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?” The ‘stand’
here connotes remaining! The desire of God in giving us the power and authority
is not for us to expend as we like but to first come to Him to show us how to
use it and when we are done to return and remain in Him, until He chooses to
send us forth again; and the cycle is repeated. As we remain in Him, He will
show us deep things that will confound the enemy in our demonstrations of the
power and authority given to us. Friends, it is important for us to retrace our
steps back to Him so He could teach us how to use the power and authority we
are blessed with and walk in the full measure of the Spirit of God. So that when
we appear before Him to give an account we will not be ashamed. God bless you.
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