AUTHORITY AND POWER, PART 1

As God’s children we operate in two different ways:  (1)  We enter into the intimacy of God’s personal presence and worship and honor him in all our ways, walking in the fullness of His Love and enjoying a Father relationship with Him.  (2)  On the other hand, we are great and mighty men and women of God, tearing down the enemy’s strongholds in our lives and other people’s lives, taking our God-given authority and using it to establish our rights in this earthly realm.  The result of taking authority over the devil and all his works is true freedom.  For the next several days, we are going to discuss the authority that God has given us and the power that resides in us to walk in victory.

We must start at the beginning with Genesis 1:26-28.  In this passage of scripture we see what God’s design was for us as human beings.  We are to be people of dominion and authority.  He commanded us to subdue and have dominion.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:  and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Let’s specifically look at some of the words in these verses.  God said:  LET US.  That means that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were all involved in making man.  MAKE:  Mold into shape, create, form from nothing, cause to exist (1828 Webster’s Dictionary)  The word asah used in this verse describes God’s creative ability (Hebrew-Greek Study Bible).

MAN:  Adam refers to generic man as the image of God, the crown of His creation, distinct from the rest of creation.  God created human beings by a special immediate act.  God put Adam and Eve in a position of honor and had great plans for them (Hebrew-Greek Study Bible).

IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS:  We are like God in our nature because He made us like Him, in His image, with His qualities.

AND LET THEM HAVE DOMINION:  Strong’s Concordance and Webster’s 1828 Dictionary tell us that dominion means to rule and to reign with supreme authority.  It is the sense of being in charge.  God gave us authority over the earth like He has authority over us.  He delegated His authority to us to take care of the place He has created for us to live in.

AND GOD BLESSED:  The word “blessed” means to be prosperous, to enjoy happiness and the favor of God, the enjoyment of good, great joy.  God intended for us to enjoy life in the fullness in every aspect—-spirit, soul, body, socially, financially.

FRUITFUL, MULTIPLY:  Increase, excel, produce in abundance.  Everything we touch is blessed and prospers and comes to maturity.  We must see that in our mind’s eye.  We were created with God’s ability to multiply and increase and produce abundance, which is overflow in every area of life.

REPLENISH:  Keep filled up and fully supplied

SUBDUE:  Conquer, tread down, bring into subjection, implies a permanence of conquering

God created the earth, delegated His authority to Adam and gave Adam the command to operate as a king in this earth, under God’s direction as The King.

FREEDOM HAS A PRICE

The greatest freedom we have is the freedom that Jesus Christ has given us as sons and daughters of God.  He paid the ultimate price for that freedom —- His blood.  Likewise, we must remember that the freedom of our nation came with a great price, the blood of many men and women who fought in wars both past and present.

As a person who loves peace, I hate war.  It destroys.  But war is a consequence of man’s sin-driven desires for power and prestige.  Today we see this drive for power in governments all over the world, in businesses everywhere, in families and yes, even in the church.

The greatest power in the universe is God Who is Love.  If mankind could only see, have the veil removed from their eyes, they would see that anything that they strive for will ultimately be removed and replaced with another greater and bigger earthly “thing.”  What a waste our striving is!  When we lean on Him and allow His Love power to take over, He brings each of us to a place of peace and victory and prosperity, the very things that we are aiming for in our personal lives when we are attempting to do it in our own human ability.

Jesus declared in John 8:31 and 32 that if we continue in God’s Word, then we are His disciples and we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free.  That is true freedom, the freedom of God that comes from knowing the truth of His Word in our lives.  He also said that he whom the Son sets free is free indeed.  We are forever free in Jesus, regardless of where we are or what our circumstances are.  Remember that you are free in Jesus Christ.  Declare that freedom and value it as more precious than all that earth can offer you!

Today, let us take inventory of our true freedom in Jesus Christ.

MY THOUGHTS

Proverbs 16:3, Amplified Bible

When I roll my works upon the Lord,

when I commit and trust them wholly to Him,

He will cause my thoughts to become agreeable to His will

and so shall my plans be established and succeed.

I have always looked at the first part of that verse and not really noticed the middle section.  Today, it stood out as a great truth for all of us.

When we commit our works upon the Lord, when we roll our care upon Him, when we commit all our cares, anxieties and worries and works over on Him, when we trust Him with everything,

THEN,

HE WILL CAUSE OUR THOUGHTS TO BECOME AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL.

In other words, God is the One Who will cause our thoughts in our mind to line up with His will, which is His Word.  Remember that Jesus prayed that His will be done on this earth.  Isn’t that a wonderful reassurance.  God will cause our thoughts to be in agreement with His.  What a comforting realization.

THEN,

your plans will be established and succeed.

Ponder this verse in your heart for a while and there will be such a peace and rest that will surround you and permeate your very being.

He causes His thoughts to become your thoughts when you commit everything wholly to Him.

THE WORD OF GRACE

Acts 20:32, Amplified Bible

And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care].  And I commend you to the Word of His grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor].  It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).

This is one of my favorite scriptures because of the meat in it.  I know some of you are thinking that I say this about all scriptures.  Well, you are right.  I love all of God’s Word.  However, this particular one is very special to me.

We are deposited in God’s care.  He is in charge of us.  That means that we can trust Him to protect us and take care of us at all times.  There are no “oops” times with God when He says:  Oh my, I didn’t have time to take care of you during that time of difficulty.  I was too busy with your neighbor down the street.  No, God is always right there for us.

Here in this scripture His Word is called the Word of His grace.  Grace is God’s ability released to you through Jesus, because of His great love for you.  It is God’s gift of Himself to you, with all the “perks” of heaven given to you to live life more abundantly, to accomplish what you were designed to do while you are here on this earth.  That’s why God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him.  What more do we need.  There is nothing else to help us.  That’s it—–GRACE!

Look what His Word of grace does for you:  it is able to build you up and to give you your rightful inheritance.  Wow!  The Word of grace, God’s gift to you and me of Himself personified, builds us up.  That Word of grace gives us our rightful inheritance.  What is that rightful inheritance?  Everything that God has and is!  We are special to Him.  He is our Father.  He loves us with a total love, and until we understand that He loves us dearly, how can we trust Him and believe that He does care for us?  Yes, He does love us and yes, He does take care of us totally (that is, if we will let Him).

Take this scripture this week and put it where you can see it often and remind yourself of how special you are, whether you feel like it or not and whether you think you deserve it or not.  It has nothing to do with how you feel or what you think.  It just IS!