Now is the time to stand

AS BELIEVERS, some of us may go to church and serve the Lord but still find that the authority that we are called to walk in eludes us. If we find ourselves in this place, it’s cause for introspection because God doesn’t have favourites, and He has called ALL of His children to exercise His authority in the spheres of influence that He has placed us.

As we look at the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, our focus is typically the son who left and squandered his father’s money. The truth is, though, that the son that stayed at home was as guilty as the one who left. When the father threw a party for the younger son, the older one became jealous and wouldn’t go to the party. When the father went out to him and asked him why he didn’t attend, “… he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.” Luke 15:28-29 (NIV)

STILL A SLAVE

The father responded by saying, “My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” Luke 15:31 (NIV) The older son already had his inheritance. It was given at the same time the younger son had received his, but instead of stepping into his authority, he was living in the position of a slave. He could have “killed a cow at any time” and enjoyed what the father had without asking, but in his mind he was a slave.

This is often what cripples many of us. We are sons and daughters, but we have assumed the position of servant and slave. We take crap from Satan squatting on our Father’s farm instead of driving him off. We are looking to the Father, but God is telling us that we already have the authority, and we are the ones He has called do it. We are walking around sick while God is saying that healing is His children’s bread, so we must drive it out. We see our country going down, and God is telling us to take it back, but we’re allowing the enemy to run over us.

When we come into the truth of who God says we are and submit to the Holy Spirit, we will begin to walk in the authority that Jesus has given us. Ephesians 1:7 tells us that we are totally forgiven, and 1 Peter 1:18-19 reminds us that the blood of Jesus paid for our sins. Deuteronomy 7:6 speaks of the value that God places in us, and Jeremiah 31:3 reminds us that as God’s children we are unconditionally loved.

HONOURED SONS

Jude 1 calls us to live in the love of God, and Ephesians 1:4 reminds us that as His children, we are chosen. Romans 5:1 tells us that we are completely accepted, and Ephesians 1:3 encourages us that we are fully capable and have every spiritual blessing in Christ. Philippians 4:13 reminds us that it is Christ living in us that makes us capable, therefore, “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength”. Finally, Galatians 4:4-7 declares that we are honoured sons.

God has not left us helpless. As His children, He has empowered us to make a difference and change the trajectory of our nation for His glory. It is time to stand up and be counted and exercise our God-given authority so that His Kingdom can come and His will done in our lives, families, communities, and our nation.