God’s Universal Love; October 3, 2021

Posted on October 5, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 22:21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

It is very telling that the crowd listened to him quietly until he said this, even though he was saying things that clearly stated that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. However, the moment he made this statement they were ready to kill him, as the next verse says. That makes it clear that they weren’t concerned about their temple, their traditions, or even their God so much as they were concerned for their privileges, their unique status as the people of God. As came up in Chapter 11, and again in Chapter 15, this issue nearly split the early Church, even, and it is a major barrier to Jews receiving Christ today. The physical descendants of Abraham are indeed a special group chosen by God, but along the way they lost sight of the purpose of their choosing, which was to proclaim the laws and the love of the Creator to the whole world. I think that was part of why Jonah tried to run away from proclaiming the Word of the Lord in Nineveh, and then was really put out when God didn’t rain judgment down on them after he did preach to them, as the book of Jonah tells so clearly. We have such a small perception of God that we think His love and blessings are limited, and if someone else gets them, our share will be cut back. How foolish! God is infinite, and His love, grace, and mercy are infinite. That’s not Universalism, saying that every human being is saved, period. The conditions of repentance and faith are there for everyone, but one person getting saved doesn’t mean that another person is any less saved. The Jews aren’t alone in that kind of narrow thinking. We need to grasp the picture painted in Revelation: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9) That’s how big God’s love is!

This is very close to home for me, because the Japanese have a sense of ethnic identity that in my opinion is comparable to that of the Jews. They see Shinto and Buddhism as cultural, racial things, and fear that becoming Christian would make them “less Japanese.” I had a man who had been coming to church regularly stop coming abruptly, and when I talked to him about it, he said that if he continued to attend he would become a Christian, and as a Japanese he couldn’t do that. Likewise, my wife had a friend who was familiar with the Bible and had other Christian friends, but when Cathy asked her why she didn’t become a Christian, she said, “Every Christian I talk to says that if I become a Christian I will go to heaven when I die, but my ancestors weren’t Christians, and when I die I’m supposed to go be with them.” That is absolutely tragic, particularly since she dropped dead one day. I can’t change people’s hearts, but God can, so I am to keep praying and keep proclaiming the Gospel, that applies equally to every ethnicity, every individual without any distinctions whatsoever.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the message You’ve given me for this morning on Continuing Prayer. I do pray that I wouldn’t give up, but keep going in Your strength and wisdom, since mine are obviously not up to the task. I pray for an outpouring of revelation and repentance on this nation, that all the lying barriers the devil has set up would be demolished and people open their hearts fully to Your grace and love, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Salvation; October 2, 2021

Posted on October 4, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 16:30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

This is a very famous story, and people tend to focus either on verse 25, which talks about Paul and Silas singing to God in their extreme circumstances, or verse 31, which is their answer to the jailer’s question recorded here. However, this verse expresses an essential element in anyone’s salvation: the awareness of need. If we think we’re OK already, better than the next guy, perhaps, then we aren’t going to repent of our assorted disobediences toward God. We tend to define sin upward, and excuse the things we do as at worst, minor mistakes. The thing is, as Paul so memorably expressed it, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) This jailer had just been confronted with an unbearable situation, because if the prisoners had indeed escaped, Roman “justice” would have demanded his life, and would have taken it very painfully indeed. Falling on his sword, though certainly not a painless death, seemed preferable. Not so many people encounter such a crisis! It’s no wonder he asked as he did. We need to realize, however, that the famous answer to this question doesn’t mean that his household would be saved without believing for themselves. The head of a household can and does have a major impact on the faith, or lack of it, of everyone in the household, but that doesn’t remove the matter of individual responsibility. That said, the spiritual dynamic of a faithful, or faithless, husband and father is a major reason the devil attacks the whole concept of the man as the head of his household. As it says in verse 34, this jailer’s whole family believed because of what happened, and therefore were indeed saved.

Ministering in Japan as I do, I see this dynamic at work all the time. Buddhism has no concept of salvation in its theology, as three different Buddhist priests have acknowledged to me at different times and locations. The best they can come up with is “mu,” an “emptying of self,” but it literally means “nothing.” As a result, Japanese people tend to be stoic but not aspirational, not seeking salvation because they don’t know it exists. When they use the term, they are almost always thinking of physical, temporal relief. Actually, many Americans tend to think of it that way too! “Eternal salvation” is a concept that all too often simply doesn’t register. It is only when we grasp the reality that we are eternal beings on this earth for a few moments only, that we can come to the position, which I have touched on several times recently, that “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) Salvation in Christ rocks!

Father, You know the difficulties I have communicating the Gospel better than I do. You also know better than I do how well it’s actually getting across. However, nothing is difficult for You. I ask that You get through to men in particular to show them their need of salvation and the possibility of it, so that families may be restored in Your family, rising up to restore society as a whole and bringing Your rule and reign, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Divine Appointments; October 1, 2021

Posted on October 4, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 16:18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

Several things are interesting about this. One is that the demonic spirit was causing the girl to speak truth. Paul and his group were indeed “servants of the most high God, telling [the people of Phillipi] the way to be saved.” (verse 17) The fact that the girl’s pronouncements were accurate was precisely what made her owners so much money. You might think Paul would have welcomed such a method of getting the news out. However, we don’t have any record of people being converted at this point, though perhaps some were. It would seem that not all publicity is good after all! The second thing that interests me is that the girl’s constant shouting really got on Paul’s nerves, and he exercised the power of the name of Jesus to cast the spirit out. God even uses our irritations! We have the record in the following verses of the response of the girl’s owners to this happening, but I find myself wondering about the response of the girl herself. Did she become a follower of Christ, or did she miss the power and influence the spirit had given her? We really don’t know, but I like to think she was a part of the group to whom Paul later wrote so warmly. The Philippian church obviously had a special place in his heart. All of these events were setting the stage for what would be a severe trial for Paul and Silas, but which blessed many people at the time and countless people in the centuries since then who have read Luke’s account. We never know when God has a special appointment for us, nor whether that appointment will be pleasant at the time or not, but we can be confident that the outcome will be very good, and for His glory, if we will yield ourselves and our circumstances to Him.

I couldn’t begin to count how many “divine appointments” I’ve had, particularly because I haven’t been aware of all of them. I’ve said and done things that later turned out to have been Him using me, that I myself didn’t remember at all! That’s not at all to say that everything I do is “a work of God.” I would be foolish indeed to think that! At the same time, I need to operate in the awareness that God can use anything at all for His purposes – even my irritation, as He used Paul’s in this instance. I can say that it feels very good to meet divine appointments when I’m aware of them, and it causes me to shake my head in wonder when I discover I’ve met one without realizing it. We use Romans 8:28 to comfort ourselves and others when things are rough, but that actually applies to every element of our lives. I am to be as intentional as possible in yielding every detail of my life to God so that He can use it for good, according to His perfect plan.

Father, thank You for including me in Your plan. Thank You for the appointments You have set up for me today, though I’m only aware of a fraction of them. Thank You for giving me the notes yesterday for Sunday’s message. I ask for Your guidance and anointing today as I prepare the notes for speaking to the Rotary Club on Tuesday. May my every encounter, every action today accomplish Your purposes on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Church; September 30, 2021

Posted on October 2, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

This is very much in line with yesterday’s passage. This is about what we would call “lay leadership,” but the distinctions of “lay” and “clergy” didn’t really exist back then. There is no direct mention here of qualifications to be an “elder,” but given the term and the culture, age was almost certainly involved. At the same time, as the saying goes, “There’s no fool like an old fool.” Age alone doesn’t qualify you for anything. Paul goes into detail about qualifications for overseers/bishops and deacons in 1 Timothy 3, and with less detail in Titus 1, but those were written quite some time after this. My guess is that some of the choices of “elders” weren’t ideal! At the same time, I’m sure the “batting average” was quite high, because they were so totally dedicated to and dependent on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He knows what is in a person’s heart! I’m sure there were some who let their title go to their head, and some who ran from the responsibilities involved in their position, but Paul and Barnabas weren’t depending on the people they were appointing, they were depending on God. He’s the reason the Church still exists today, despite the various unfortunate leaders and horrible policies that have surfaced over the past 2000 years. I’m reminded of the hymn that says, “Built on the Rock, the Church shall stand, even while steeples are falling.” Human organizations and institutions aren’t the main issue, it’s the Body of Christ, and He said He would build His Church. (Matthew 16:18) Individual churches are under terrific attack in various places around the world today, but that is never a reason for despair. Individual churches might disband and buildings be demolished or used for other purposes, but the Church cannot be demolished. In 1973 Bill Gaither wrote The Church Triumphant on this very topic, and he went on to write many, many more songs that have built up the Church for the glory of God. The Church is made up of very fallible people, but our Head is omniscient and omnipotent, and as long as we are connected to Him, we have nothing to worry about.

This is very close to home for me. Not only am I a local church pastor, we are organizationally completely independent. We have no “safety net,” organizationally speaking. I am 73, and do not at this point have a “designated successor.” Actually, I’ve never received as much from the church as I have given in offerings, so I don’t have an income to offer someone. Money had nothing to do with what Paul and Barnabas did here, so that isn’t a genuine issue, however big it might seem to human eyes. The Lord has been intimating for some time that He was going to move me out into wider ministry, but what that will mean is still completely unknown. Paul’s ministry was certainly wide! The prayer and fasting mentioned here are an excellent course for me to take. I am to be very aware of the need for leadership other than me and keep my heart open for whatever the Lord would say, but I’m not to be anxious about anything.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that You are absolutely faithful and reliable. Help me fulfill Your plans in every detail, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Leaders; September 29, 2021

Posted on October 1, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 13:1 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

There are a number of things about the early Church that I don’t think we grasp very well, and I think a big one is the whole matter of leadership. There were no seminaries, denominations, or accrediting boards of any kind. Those who became leaders were very simply those whose gifts were acknowledged by the believers around them, and they were a very diverse group indeed. Saul was the only one of this group whom we know had specifically theological training. Manaen was probably well educated, since he had been raised in a royal household, (the Japanese says he shared a wet nurse with Herod) but the others were essentially nobodies. It’s interesting to note that Simeon was usually called Black, probably in reference to his skin color. Political correctness hadn’t been invented yet! The thing is, these men were recognized leaders because people saw the Holy Spirit operating through them. There are some groups today that use “prophet” as an organizational title, but there is no Biblical justification for that whatsoever. It seems likely that some of these men functioned as both prophets and teachers, but in any case, the terms were descriptive rather than assigned. The Church today would be in much better shape if we got back to that sort of thing. It’s sad to me that people put things like “prophet” and “apostle” on their business cards. God certifies those He calls and designates!

As I am reminded from time to time, I was raised in what some would consider a rather heady environment, with people who are literally in history books today staying in our house when they came through town. Because of that, I have always been aware that every human being is exactly that, human, and none are “demigods.” I have been glad to meet various people who have been affirmed by the Holy Spirit, but I think I am pretty well insulated against titles of any sort. At times I am very aware of authority and responsibility the Lord has placed on me, but most of the time, not so much. Self-important people tend to resent me, but that’s no skin off of my nose. I am to recognize those whom the Lord has gifted and called and not run from my own place in that, but at the same time remember always that all ability and authority rests in God and not in man. We are all accountable to Him for what He has placed in us, whether it causes us to be noticed or not. He is our judge, our “Employer,” if you will, and we must never forget it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You have been giving various intimations over the past few months that my role is going to shift, but I still have little if any grasp of what that means. Help me be totally submitted and available to You for however You want to use me – or not, as You choose – so that Your plans may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Continuing Prayer; September 28, 2021

Posted on October 1, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

I have loved this story for as long as I can remember, but it was certainly no laughing matter for those going through it. It reads like something in one of the “space opera” science fiction novels I like to read, but there was no special technology involved, just the sovereign power of God. It is certainly an illustration of the power of prayer, as well as of how much trouble we have believing that power. The scene where Peter shows up at Mary’s house is downright comical, but no one there at the time was laughing. Peter’s situation seemed totally hopeless, particularly considering that James had already been martyred. The Church’s response to that is given here. I like the way the Japanese here specifies, “The church continued to pray earnestly to God for him.” (emphasis added) In other words, they didn’t just pray once, however earnestly, and then stop. They were applying the lesson Jesus taught with the parable of the persistent widow. (Luke 18:1-8) This is one of the paradoxes of prayer. It would seem that if our faith and heart attitude are correct, then praying once would be sufficient. Actually, it often is, but we don’t know all the spiritual warfare that might be going on unseen, as was described to Daniel. (Daniel 10:12-14) Sometimes the answer to our prayer is beyond this world, and as such, it might seem like our prayers are futile. We are not to give in to despair or grief because of such things, but keep praying and keep trusting. God is always capable of surprising us!

I have not been particularly good at continuing prayer. I’ve tended to feel like if I’ve prayed for something, that should settle it. That is definitely in the realm of hubris! As I have written numbers of times, I can’t say I understand prayer. After all, why would the Creator of the universe listen to us in the first place? And then, what part do our prayers have in what actually happens here on earth, much less in the spiritual realms? However, insisting on understanding is to deny faith, and that is certainly a terrible mistake. I need to let go of my “need to understand” and simply keep praying, just as the Church did in this story. If God were limited to what I could figure out, we’d all be in BIG trouble! One prayer that I am continuing from my parents, and from many other saints, is for the salvation of Japan. On the face of it, that looks about as impossible as Peter’s release from prison, but when God could do one, He can do the other. There have been various encouraging prophecies over the years, but just as with Christ’s return, we don’t know the timing. I am never to give up, whether I see it with my physical eyes or not, but keep trusting, keep praying, and keep offering myself to the Lord for however He might want to use me to that end, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Help me grow in continuing prayer, never giving up but trusting You in every detail, so that Your will may be done in and through me, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Bible; September 27, 2021

Posted on September 29, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 10:42-43 “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

We tend to forget that at this point, the only Bible that existed was the Old Testament. As Peter indicates here, the prophecies about the Messiah are abundant from Genesis through Malachi. The book of Isaiah has not unreasonably been called, “The Gospel According to Isaiah.” I have long been aware that being familiar with the Old Testament prepares you to understand and receive the New Testament, and the New Testament gives insight and meaning to the Old. Christians who only read the New Testament, as well as Jews who only read the Old Testament, are both cutting themselves off from huge blessings that God intends for all mankind. Peter obviously had the highest regard for the Old Testament, but he himself put Paul’s letters on a par with it. (2 Peter 3:15-16) And that was long before any committee decided “the canon of Scripture,” as far as the New Testament is concerned. We’re back to the reality that God knew what He was doing when He had people write what is in the Bible! Paul himself (not realizing his own letters would be included in this) summed it up this way: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) God is able to use any part of the Bible to speak His grace, love, and direction to us, so we treat it lightly to our great loss.

I was certainly raised with a high regard for the Bible. Though my parents were Southern Baptist missionaries, I don’t think we were ever at the point of feeling the Trinity was “Father, Son, and Holy Bible,” the way some churches have seemed to do, but the Bible was always seen and presented as authoritative. At the same time, my father was a linguist, having gotten his ThM in Hebrew and his PhD in Biblical Greek. We were never tied to a particular English translation, since my father recognized that each had strengths and weaknesses. When I was baptized at age seven, my first full Bible was in the RSV translation, since my father felt that would be best for me among those that were available at that point. (1956) Now, I can’t keep up with all the translations that are available! The point isn’t the translation so much as it is to read it, to let the Holy Spirit take the words that He inspired and guided and plant them in my heart. I have been given the privilege of sharing that with others, and it is a joy indeed when they receive it and grow in fellowship with their Creator and Lord.

Father, thank You for the phone call yesterday that gave such evidence of what You are doing in one of my spiritual children. That really gave me joy! I do pray for him, and for all of Your children, that we would receive Your Word to do it, and not deceive ourselves. (James 1:22) May Your Word to us and through us indeed accomplish everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:11) for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Racial Discrimination; September 26, 2021

Posted on September 28, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

This was the full understanding of Peter’s vision on the rooftop three days earlier. When God teaches us things it often takes time for them to sink in, and that process can take hours, days, or even years. We are all constantly learning, or at least we should be. This is something both learners and teachers need to understand. After Paul wrote so magnificently about his own continuing journey toward Christ, he wrote to those reading it, “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:15-16) In other words, he trusted God to be the ultimate teacher, whether or not he was involved as a “teacher’s aid.” His concern was that people wouldn’t slip back into thought patters and actions from which they had previously been freed. The lesson God taught Peter, through the rooftop vision and then through encountering the people gathered in Cornelius’ house, was earthshaking, even if not in a geologic sense. He was making very clear that, though He chose Abraham and his descendants as His special tools, His concern was for all mankind. That just about split the Church, as Chapter 11 records. The sad thing is, we still descend into “us vs. them” all too often, and the devil does all he can to encourage that. Right now, politics of division based on race are in disgusting display in the US, in direct violation of what God taught so clearly to and through Peter. Those who know God need to stand firmly on His Word, His truth and, as Martin Luther King so eloquently proclaimed, judge people on the basis of the content of their character and not on anything else.

Born and raised as a Caucasian in Japan, I have been aware of this issue all of my life. There have been many people on both sides of that racial divide who have needed this lesson, too. My wife was just reading one of my father’s devotional notebooks from when I was a small child, and he was lamenting the tendency of many Japanese to feel they were unfit for leadership, so soon after Japan’s defeat in WWII. He used his “furlough” (my first time in the US) to insist that the school where he ministered choose another, Japanese Chancellor and not keep the position open for him to return after a year. It is sad to me that when he died, unexpectedly to most, at 64, having recently returned to the position of Chancellor, the school, rather than choosing a Japanese replacement, called a retired missionary back from the US to take the post. I have dealt with people looking at and treating me differently, because of my different appearance, all of my life. Sometimes those differences have seemed favorable to me and sometimes unfavorable, but it is the differences themselves that are the problem. I cannot change other people directly, but I can be an influence and I can pray. I also need to be careful that the content of my character is exemplary! I cannot say that I myself am free from racial stereotypes, so I need to be alert not to let them manifest in my words and actions toward others. God’s lesson to Peter needs to be repeated to all generations!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your mercy and patience toward us all. May I and all Your children stand firm in Your truth, so that the world may learn Christ by the love they see in us, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Eating Meat; September 25, 2021

Posted on September 28, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 10:13-15 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This is a very familiar story, but reading it just now something occurred to me I had never thought of before: this pretty well disposes of the majority of arguments against eating meat. The lesson to Peter and all his spiritual descendants was not to impose legalistic traditions on situations when God has said otherwise, but it starts with the very graphic point of slaughtering animals. Failing to take care of animals is inexcusable in my book, but making dinner of them, at the cost of their life, is very much part of how the world is laid out. The absurdity of some of the positions that are expressed reaches its peak, I think, in people who are against hunting and they state, “People who want to eat meat should just buy it at the store and not kill innocent animals.” (And yes, that has really been stated.) We are so far removed from the mechanisms of nature that we lose rational thought! Much has been made of the 6th Commandment, traditionally translated as, “Thou shalt not kill,” but much less of the 7th, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:13-14) The English word “kill” has been extrapolated incredibly, when the far more accurate word used by some more modern translations is, “You shall not murder.” And those who insist that making steaks out of a cow is murder really don’t understand the concept. When we apply distorted human reasoning (greatly encouraged in that by the devil, I believe) to the world around us, we lose perspective, proportion, and eventually, rational thought.

A very memorable early exposure I had to this concept was when the governor of Fukuoka Prefecture presented my family with two live turkeys, one for us and one for the missionary association, and my father was tasked with taking them from that condition to being ready for my mother to put them in the oven. I won’t go into details, but I doubt I will ever forget it! Years later, for a high school biology class, I did a presentation on comparative anatomy using photographs I took of dissecting a frog, a fish, a snake, and a chicken. The chicken didn’t start out live, but was rather a whole one from the meat shop that had simply been plucked after having its throat cut. The point is, with the chicken, my pictures progressed to the plate of fried chicken my mother made from it after the dissection, and then to a plate of bones after my family had eaten it very thoroughly. (I once cooked a snake, but my mother made me feed it to the dog rather than let me sample it, which I was eager to do.) I have always loved animals of many sorts, either as pets or as food! (I find horse tasty, but I’d rather ride them than eat them.) All that said, I still need to remember what Paul said about such things, not offending “weaker brothers” needlessly. (1 Corinthians 8) I have successfully hunted deer and I have taken a pig from the pen to the table, but I am not to make that my “public face.” At the same time, I am certainly not to look down my nose at anything God has cleansed.

Father, I certainly didn’t expect to write on this this morning! I pray that I would recognize what You are saying to me regardless of when or how You say it, so that I may walk in full obedience all the time, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Authority; September 24, 2021

Posted on September 26, 2021 by jgarrott

Acts 9:40-41 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive.

I find it interesting that with both Aeneas (verse 34) and Dorcas, Peter commanded them to get up. In Aeneas’ case there was a faith response, but Dorcas was already dead, so it wasn’t her faith in operation. Actually, Peter had a track record of giving commands like this, as we saw when he was instrumental in the healing of the man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate of the temple in Jerusalem. (Acts 3:6-7) We tend to associate prayer with essentially begging God to do something, when sometimes we need to exercise the authority we have been given in Christ. Even evangelism is often expressed in terms of command. Jesus Himself commanded people to “Repent and believe the Good news.” (Mark 1:15) Often enough the vocabulary is still here, but the sense of spiritual authority isn’t. It was in no way just coincidental that the Great Commission was given in conjunction with Jesus’ declaration of His authority. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20) The danger here is that many of us have a thirst for authority, and when that kicks in genuine spiritual authority generally goes out the window. It’s like the Roman Centurion realized: there is a flow of authority, and when we aren’t submitted to that above us, our authority evaporates. (Luke 7:8) We must be humble, but at the same time realize that the authority of Jesus Christ the Son of God operates through us. Peter grasped that, and we have the record of the results.

As I have written many times, I have had a very ambivalent relationship with authority all my life. The American side of my heritage – or maybe it’s just the human – doesn’t like to submit to authority. That was something I didn’t like about my two years in the Army! At the same time, I don’t think I’m rebellious for the sake of being rebellious. When it comes to giving commands myself, I’m if anything even less comfortable. Even in the Army, though I rose to E5, traditionally called a sergeant, I was a “specialist,” and so not in a place of ordering others around. Frankly, I don’t like ordering people around, but sometimes that needs to be done. Of far more importance is the matter of spiritual authority. I need to realize that when “all authority in heaven and on earth” is in Christ, operating in His name means having that authority operate through me, for healing and resurrection, even, as demonstrated by Peter, and for deliverance, salvation, and every other spiritual benefit. For that to operate, I’ve got to be fully submitted to Christ myself, so that is to be my focus, allowing Him to show me when and how to exercise His authority.

Father, this is an area that I’ve only touched the fringes of to this point. Keep me from operating in the flesh, but also keep me from holding back for any merely human reason. May I be a useful instrument of Your authority, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be manifested as Your will is done in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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