Our church, Cross Points Church offers a free daily devotional through the You Version Bible app. This week our lead pastor is out of town, and he has made the mistake of handing this duty to me. I’m going to use my next few posts to share these devotions with you.
Authority – Matthew 7:1-29
What a passage! In this one chapter of Matthew, Jesus covers topics ranging from judging others to prayer to walking the narrow path to judgement from God to building our lives on a solid foundation.
Jesus covers a lot of ground in his conclusion of the famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). It didn’t seem to be lost on those who listened either. I hope you didn’t miss the last verse of chapter 7 –
for He taught with real authority – quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
He was kind of a big deal
Authority is a big issue throughout the ministry of Jesus. The religious leaders (and by default the political leaders of the Jewish community) constantly ask Jesus questions like,
Who gave you the right to do the things you do? Who do you think you are to say what you say?
Authority is not only a major theme in the Gospels, but a quick search on the word “authority” on Bible.com returns over 150 times that term is used throughout scripture.
Romans 13 tells us that all authority (whether used for good or evil) comes from God. In Matthew 28, Jesus says that He was given all authority in heaven and earth. Jesus then commands his disciples to use it. The Apostle Paul was unafraid to use the authority Jesus had given him (2 Corinthians 10:8).
You are kind of a big deal
If you a follower of Jesus, you should ask yourself this question, “Am I using the authority given to me as a believer in Jesus Christ?” This authority separates us from those around us. It allows us to speak truth with love. It allows us to be heard and seen where others fail.
That took some balls!
As a teenager I did a lot of street evangelism with the pastor of an inner city church. We would hang out, talking and praying with people downtown. I was one of those people you wondered why they were talking with you about Jesus!
During one of these evenings, I remember engaging in conversation with someone close to my age (late teens). They were giving me and a couple of others an earful of their thoughts about satan and the demonic. He was trying to freak us out.
Something rose up within me as he spoke, and I called his bluff. I spoke with authority…not my authority, but the authority of Jesus. I don’t know the impact I had on that person, but I do remember another person in our group being greatly impacted.
Her exact response was,
That took a lot of balls!
This person couldn’t believe what I had just done. I had spoken truth, and quieted his attitude.
What I couldn’t put into words then, but I can now is authority. I took the authority already given to me in Jesus to speak truth in love.
You have access to this same authority; are you using it?
[…] was no stranger to this way of life. He lived in a culture that placed high demands on following rules and regulations. However, Jesus was able to navigate this culture without losing his […]