In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus proclaims and commands “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, …teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
And Mark 16: 17-18 records: “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons… they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Clearly Christ’s authority has been given to us as believers in Him; but are you walking in that authority, or are you believing it in your head as doctrine, but not in your heart as living functioning truth and practice? Is it a truth fully absorbed and integrated in your heart, mind and spirit, into your very being? Are you regularly exercising your given authority, or maybe feeling too small, weak, inadequate, and therefore lacking in effective authority?
The Lord has been revealing and teaching me many crucial and practical things through Philemon 6, KJV, “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” His first lesson about this with me was the revelation that I was effectively denying one of the Fruits of the Spirit that He had actually deposited in me by my claiming a loss of patience. I HAD His Patience within me, but was not USING it. Since then He has shown me how that principle applies to ALL the fruit of His Spirit. We become deceived, believe and claim the opposite, or at least some lack. But the fruit is not ours, but HIS Nature deposited in us. And we are commanded to use and walk in them.
Jesus’ power and authority is also given to us, and we are commissioned and commanded to walk in that too, as genuine believers in Him and His Word. We are not to slip into denial of His Word, authority and power in us through doubts and unbelief, and believing we lack it, or don’t have enough of it. That authority and power resides in us, belongs to us, is part of who we are. It is by acknowledging it being within us, that it becomes effective, integrated in our thinking and being.
I had understood that authority and operated in it successfully in the health area for a number of years, taking authority over my own body.
Using that authority in the lives of others is a little more complicated because the faith of the other person to receive is involved, and even Jesus was did not do many mighty works of healing in His hometown where there was so much unbelief.
When my husband became sick, he believed in healing as a doctrine, but was unable to believe God would heal him. Because of his choice to seek healing through medical science and doctors, and because one of his issues was short term memory loss, in honoring his choice I had to be present at all appointments and take charge of his care and treatment. I quickly discovered it was not possible to operate and function on two separate levels, natural/carnal and spiritual at the same time. My husband’s care was lengthy and required much attention and oversight. I will spare you the details of what turned into very poor medical treatment from many nice doctors, when the actual solution was actually very simple, but “missed.” He has passed on now, and is relieved of all pain. My point here is that so much of my time and attention was focused on a medical path, that my ability to shift back to my spiritual path for my own needs, and time to do so, left me vulnerable.
It is harder to deal with any situation or symptom once it has had time to establish without sufficient opposition. Some of my sense of authority was undermined by that, the full integration of that authority in my sense of being and identity. Like a lost connection or something. Locating that glitch has been a challenge to a returned and fully effective spiritual path.
God has been showing me through Philemon 6, KJV that the answer is in deep, focused “acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus!” No more claiming or believing loss or lack! But believing His Presence and power within. We are “one.” And Jesus said He would be with us until the end of the age, and that He would never leave nor forsake us!
The problem is never Him, but we must be diligent to not fall into denial through doubt, unbelief, neglect, false humility, sense of personal weakness, or any other deception of the enemy. We are, have been, UNITED with Christ. He has given us His own authority, power, and victory. AMEN? Philemon 6 KJV is a wonderful principle that applies in so very many areas of our lives! USE it, apply it, and enjoy the profit!
Carole Robinson
A God Listener
01/22/2016
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