(CLICK THE TITLE) Good morning everyone. I awoke today with the word authority in my spirit so I thought I would go into the Bible to find scripture that spoke on the subject.
Father, on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ I come to you this morning to proclaim that we commit our works to You and ask You to establish our thoughts and direct our steps. Let our hearts beat with Your desires. Deliver us from all wrongdoing and fleshly desires. Keep us under Your faithful, loving and warm wings of love. We praise You Father. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray and give thanks, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Do we understand authority?
Jesus and the Centurion
Matthew 8:5-13
When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
Being a Person under Authority
The centurion came to Jesus and told Him of his servant who was paralyzed and in terrible suffering. He came to Jesus because he believed He could heal his servant. He told Him his problem and Jesus was willing to come with the centurion. But the centurion would not have it. He knew that Jesus, being under the authority of Heaven itself, didn’t have to see the servant to help him. The centurion understood authority. He understood that he himself had certain rights that his position granted him to have power over situations and people. He also was a man under authority. The centurion understood Jesus’ position and what power that position held in Heaven – the power to heal his servant if He chose to exercise that authority.
When Jesus saw that the centurion understood this principle of authority and that He didn’t have to visit the servant to heal him, He acknowledged the centurion’s faith. Jesus knew it took great faith to understand authority and whether He had the authority to do what was being asked. God has placed a system of authority in our world that requires faith to operate under its boundaries: fathers over sons and daughters, employers over employees, government leaders over the people, church leaders over church members. These are authority structures God has placed in our lives to protect and guide us to His will. Some confuse position with worthiness or qualifications of that position. It is the position that God works through. The fact that an authority may not be a Christian may have no bearing on whether God can work through him as your authority. It is only when that authority counsels against a biblical mandate that we should not follow that person’s guidance. Today, we find few who understand this system of authority God has ordained. It requires great faith to operate in this realm. Yet Jesus said that when we understand this, we demonstrate the kind of faith that He rarely sees in this day and age.
The question now becomes this; Do You Possess This Kind Of Faith? I’m just asking. God knows for sure.
Quote of the Day
The beautiful thing about this adventure called faith is that we can count on Him never to lead us astray.
Charles (Chuck) Swindoll
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