Authority

Authority

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“Then Jesus came to them, and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me and to heaven,’”

Matthew 28:18, NIV.

Many people struggle with losing their own authority and identity when it comes to surrendering all to God. Will I lose my personality? Will I be the same type of person that I am right now? The simple answer is yes and no.

We do lose our authority when we surrender to God. We’re surrendering to God, after all. We may give up our personal, self-righteous, "I’m right you’re actually wrong" authority, but what we gain is God‘s authority. We gain God’s authority, His power, His wisdom, His truth, and it does set us free.

There’s something amazingly freeing when we walk with the authority of God, we have confidence. We also get to be who we were created to be, a person who has the ability to be truly good, humbly right and graciously loving. I have surrendered to Jesus, and though He is my king, I have not lost my impulsive behavior, my Pollyanna approach to life, or my sense of humor. Some of these things might have been tempered, but the tempering or the softening is a result of maturity.

Think of a time when you were driving, and you thought that you were being followed. More than likely you drove differently than when you drove as the one doing the following.

When one thinks they’re being followed, they start examining themselves to see if they have done something wrong. Specially, if they’re being followed by a police car. But when you are doing the following, you just relax and drive.

When we surrender to our Father, He drives ahead of us, guiding and showing us the right way to go. He won’t lead us down a darkened alley, to abandoned us to fend for ourselves. If we are in a place that’s a bit frightening, either we placed ourselves in that situation, or our King did. But He does not leave us, He comforts us through our struggles. He may even the use the experience to glorify His name or strengthen our character.

I think of missionaries who are facing harsh times that could be frightening, but they believe without doubt this is where they are to be—sharing the gospel with the lost. Some might die doing so, but others will be changed forever as a result, for the better. When our lives are not our own, we don’t mind doing the seemingly dangerous or even ridiculous, if that is what God the Creator is asking us to do.

For example, there are times during prayer God asks me to take off my shoes, like He did with Moses. He reminds me that while in His presence I am standing on Holy ground. Do I care what those who sit next to me think? To them I may seem ridiculous, but to my Father, I’m walking or standing in obedience.

Will you surrender all to your Father? Will you stand for Him, even if you look ridiculous doing so?

Father,

We stand, sit and breathe for You. You have given us life to the fullest! We know You, and we have an opportunity to be forgiven by You! We have a chance to live for You and to serve You, for the good.

We humbly ask that You draw us one step closer to complete surrender and lead us deeper into Your will.

You are God, we are not.

You are the Creator; we are the observers.

You are the King of kings; we are Your servants.

Create in us a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within us.

We give You the authority to reign in our lives, for You will not take what we will not surrender.

Amen