The tremendous authority God has given you
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:13, KJV)
When most of us think of authority, we think of casting demons, healing disease, or even a position of spiritual authority to lead other people. Yes, all of these are different facets of operations of authority. However, as I taught about the power of God before, there is more about authority. There is an aspect of authority, your authority as a human being and as a believer, that is easy to miss. It is the authority God has given to every human being, including the believer in Christ, to control your own life.
Authority in its simplest sense means ability to control. It is a right and a privilege to make use of power to control.The greatest authority, and the most powerful, God has given you first as a human being is not the control over demons. Neither is it the authority over sickness or to control other people. It is the authority to control your own life. I pray you really catch this! Who has the control over your thoughts, emotions, decisions, desires, etc? Who has the control over what you decide to do or say? I call it the “internal control” or “authority over one’s own very life.
This authority is so powerful that until you give it to God, He cannot bypass it because He established it. This process by which we exercise control over own lives and give it to either something or someone else is what the scripture above calls “yielding” above. If there is one thing God is really after in your life, it is this authority you have over your life. It is a manifestation of your will. Satan cannot bypass it. We have to yield ourselves to sin for it to rule over us. We have to yield ourselves to Satan in some way for him to have control over our lives. Do you know that someone who is a drug addict or addicted to alcohol simply yields their lives or their authority to alcohol to take over and control them?
There is power in your hands, given by God. That is the authority over your life! The Lord is asking you to give Him that authority. Yield to Him. As believers, we are so excited to exercise authority over demons or sickness, right? In fact, many are scrambling in church circles today for positions of authority to rule over other people. There is something about us that loves to be in control. However, God wants us to rule over own lives first and yield that authority over to Him. Do you know what happens to us when anger , fear, depression, hatred, bitterness, anxiety or other emotions are running the show in our lives? We have simply lost control, not over demons or other people but of our own selves and yielded our authority to something else. The Lord says “My son, give me thine heart.. (Proverbs 23:26, KJV). Do you now know what He is asking for? That power you have over your life, your authority, your will!
MEDITATE
Please take a moment to reread the verse above, think about those words and say them again to yourself.
APPLY THE WORD
God has given you power and authority. The greatest of that authority is the authority over your own life. You have the power to either yield or reject. Yield to God and reject sin and Satan!
PRAY
Ask the Father to help you not to resist His Spirit but to yield to Him rather than yielding to fear, sin, Satan, addiction, depression, etc.
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