Taking Authority

Good morning.

Confidence or the lack thereof determines how efficient we are in life, isn’t it? The timid often loses out and the confident people seem to have it all. This as a fact of life and also applies to the Kingdom of God and the spiritual realm. Satan has no lack of confidence and to counter him we need all the confidence we can acquire. The Lord has filled His Word with passages to build our confidence and if we believe in Him and apply His Word, we’ll have confidence to do greater things than we can imagine.

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).” The word ‘fear’ can also be translated as ‘timidity’ as it is done in the NIV Bible. We therefore have no excuse to feel timid or inferior because those who are born again, i.e. born of the Spirit (John 3:3-5) have the Spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind living in them. He abides in us, waiting for us to believe so He can manifest that awesome power and love through us.

I have a friend who ministered with us many years ago on the streets of Cape Town, and now ministers among the Indians in the Amazon. One of his most obvious characteristics is his confidence. The street-work team always smiled at his boldness. During this holiday in Cape Town I had the privilege to see him again after all these years and was struck by his confident faith. I’d love to spend lots of time in his company, since faith and the Lord’s presence just flow from his mouth. I e.g. asked him in what language he ministers to the Indians and he said it was Spanish and Portuguese. I asked him how he learnt them and his answer was that since the Bible said he can do all things through Christ Jesus, he knew he could learn them and he did. To him the Bible says it, he believes and does it and that settles it. No wonder he has so much confidence, since he doesn’t reason about God’s word – he simply applies it and gives God the glory.

Jesus said in Mark 16:17, 18: “‘These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’” All these activities indicate that believers will have authority. At Jesus’ conclusion of His ministry as recorded by Matthew He said: “‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations... (Matthew 28:18, 19)” Because He has all authority, His followers have authority.

As I sat here in hot South Africa writing this, I experienced a simple example of this authority. A fly kept on bothering me, but it was too quick for me get hold of, so I commanded it in the name of Jesus to leave. For a moment it was disobedient, so I told it again to be gone and it left. Quite a while later my faith was tested as a fly bothered me again. I commanded it once more and this time it left me alone immediately and permanently. What is the difference between a fly and evil or for that matter troublesome circumstances? We have Jesus’ authority. Just use it in confidence whenever necessary.

Lord, please help me to be confident in your authority.

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