Purpose And Power Of Authority (20 page)

Many people’s ears hear things about others that are only part of the story. For instance, someone may tell you, “Have you heard? So-and-so is pregnant.” You can answer, “Yes, I heard, but according to the Word of God, ears have not heard the rest of her story yet. The rest of her story will come after she discovers and lives in her personal authority.”

You need to affirm this truth for your own life: Whatever I am now is only temporary. What you see is not what you get. Only God has the last word on me!

Remember that…

• Moses was a murderer—temporarily. (See, for example, Exodus 2:11–15; 3:1–10.)
  

• Rahab was a prostitute—temporarily. (See, for example, Joshua 2; 6:17–25.)
  

• Gideon was a coward—temporarily. (See, for example, Judges 6:11–7:25.)
  

• Paul of Tarsus was a killer—temporarily. (See, for example, Acts 7:55–8:3; 9:1–22.)
  

You haven’t read the end of your story yet, so don’t close the book. People may have written you off, or you may have jumped the pages of your book. For example, perhaps you were supposed to be married in chapter 7 of the book of your life, but you got married in chapter 3 and got divorced in chapter 5. Now, you think, This is it. There’s nothing left for me. God is saying, “No, you just got married to the wrong person in the wrong chapter.” Let me tell you, if you got married in the wrong chapter, you will need a lot of grace. But God still has good plans for your life, and you can still live according to your authority. Or, maybe you were supposed to complete your education in chapter 8 but you dropped out in chapter 4. Get back on course. Return to school and finish your studies, even if you have to go to classes with much younger students. Don’t worry about them. Just get on with your dream and say, “I have to learn this so I can do what I was born to do.” If you need to, get a tutor or other assistance so that you can regain what you lost while you were out of school. God will give you back what belongs to you. Or, perhaps you were supposed to start your own business in chapter 13, but you tried to start it in chapter 7, and the business failed, and you had to get a regular job again. Setbacks don’t necessarily mean that the dreams weren’t from God. Yet, you need to pursue His dreams in His timing. You were just attempting to fulfill them in the wrong chapters of your life.

Keep a Steady and Purposeful Pace

Don’t try to rush anything. Remember Carl Lewis, and keep yourself to a steady pace as you run in the path of your authority. If you are about to complete chapter 5 of your life, move on to chapter 6 next and then chapter 7 instead of concentrating on chapter 10. You need to plan for the future, but don’t try to live there before it arrives. Stop thinking about what you don’t have yet and work your way to your ultimate purpose.

We read 1 Corinthians 2:9, which says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,” but verse 10 is the clincher; this is a wonderful revelation from our Creator. It begins, “But God….” Remember, your teachers don’t really know you, your employer doesn’t really know you, the government officials don’t really know you, and even your family doesn’t really know you. “But God” does. Why? Because God is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2 nkjv, kjv).

“But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:10). The only way to know the truth about yourself is by a revelation from God’s Spirit. You are so awesome that you need to be explained by God. No human can explain you. God Himself has to do this. Jesus asked His disciples,

“Who do people say the Son of Man [Jesus] is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13–19)

Jesus told Peter, in effect, “Peter, you just got information! No one can know Me unless the Father reveals it to him. And let Me tell you something about your personal authority. You will be a leader in My church, and I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

What is inside you is so tremendous that only God has the details. This is why you shouldn’t allow yourself or others to limit you based on your past behavior or circumstances. You are greater than what you’ve done. Nobody really knows you except the One who created you, and only God’s Spirit can reveal to you the details of His plan for you.

Then, 1 Corinthians 2:10–14 says,

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us [including what He has authorized us to be and do]. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Again, when you start telling people about the dream God has put in your heart, sometimes those who don’t have His Spirit will call it foolishness. On this basis, it is possible that you can measure the validity of your dream by how many people say it is ridiculous. If everybody says it’s possible, perhaps it isn’t from Him. Yet when people start telling you that you cannot do it, that it’s impossible, that it’s foolish, that you don’t have the intelligence for it, or that you don’t have the connections for it, then it just might be from God.

God will always give you a dream that requires His help to accomplish. That’s why it will always be impossible for you to do it by yourself. His assignments for us will always demand His assistance so that we realize they are from Him. Personal authority is not the same as self-authority; our authority does not come from us, even though it is in us. It has been placed within us by the Creator. “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord”
(1 Corinthians 1:31).

No matter what people have told you in the past, therefore, plug into God’s authority in your life. Submit to the Author of your salvation and discover the dream He has placed in your heart. Remember that you are authorized to accomplish your purpose in life, and that nobody else can do it in exactly the way that you can. Your personality is designed for your authority. Everything about you is perfect for what you were created to do.

You may have picked up many habits, concepts, and ideas from other people about what your life should be. You may have learned to imitate other people. But from this day forward, you can determine to be authentic. Let your desire be to manifest yourself. The Creator will not allow you to get lost in the crowd. You are important, essential, original.

Guard against Purely Emotional Decisions

We have emotional investments in our relationships with our family members, friends, and mentors, and it is not always easy to separate ourselves from these emotional ties, when necessary, in order to be faithful to our personal purposes. For example, Michael Jordan has indicated that a major reason he pursued baseball was that his late father—who had been murdered just months before Michael’s decision to leave basketball—had always wanted him to be a Major League baseball player. His beloved father’s dream for his life, combined with the emotional strain of having tragically lost his father, apparently led him into an area that was not his special gifting.2 These types of influences are understandably powerful in our lives, and we have to be careful to assess why we are doing what we do.

Evaluate Whether You Are Being True to Yourself

Too often, we look at other people’s experiences and situations as our guide but fail to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, “Am I being true to myself, as the Creator made me? Is this me? Is this who I really want to be?” Again, most of us have become what other people have expected us to be. We are afraid to be who we really are because we don’t want to rock the boat. We are so busy trying to fit in that we have no time to stand out. And we’re so committed to pleasing everybody else that we never please our Creator or ourselves. It’s no wonder Paul said, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Paul’s caution to us is important because if we do not conform to these pressures but are transformed by renewing our thinking according to our authority, then our authority and the way we are to carry it out will be confirmed to us—“then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (verse 2). We will know what we were born to be and to do. Don’t allow society’s thinking—or your own thoughts based on society’s thinking—to pressure you into determining what your personal domain should be according to its values rather than the Creator’s.

Everyone’s Gift Is Needed

To keep from being unduly persuaded by others, you must know and trust in the strength of your own authority. Paul wrote, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us” (Romans 12:6). We all have different gifts according to the grace—the abilities, the talents—that we have been given. Different gifts do not all have the same function, and we need to recognize and enjoy our particular gifts.

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (verses 4–5). Everyone has a specific authority, an area of gifting, and that authority is needed by everybody else. If we don’t find our areas and fulfill them, then we are causing weaknesses or “sicknesses” in the “body”; we are hindering the welfare of our generation. We are actually having a negative impact on the community. If we
(1) all belong to each other, and (2) all have different gifts, that means that the other members of the community need our gifts, and that we need theirs.

Suppose you had a toothache. Would you go to your car mechanic to get it checked out? A mechanic does have various tools, including pliers, and if you wanted to go that route, I’m sure he’d fix you up! No, the reason you sit back and close your eyes and trust a dentist is that you respect the diplomas hanging on his wall. You believe he has the education and training that qualify him to work on your teeth. You wouldn’t want to be sitting in a dental chair awaiting a root canal and have the dentist come in and say, “Now, let’s see, I’ve never done this before. What should I do first?” At that point, it’s definitely time to leave—through the window!

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3). Paul was saying that we should think of ourselves according to the gifts God has given us and not get carried away trying to accomplish or establish something we’re not designed for. We’re not to wander into others’ territories just because we think we would enjoy their assignments more. In this sense, “thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought” refers to thinking of ourselves in a different manner from how we should, thinking of ourselves in terms of something that is not right for the domain of authority we have been called to.

Did you know that you cannot find your gift by attending high school or college? It isn’t there. Instead, you bring it with you because it’s in you. Education cannot give you a gift; it can only help you refine it. If you’re in college and you don’t know your gift, you’re probably going to be changing majors every other month. In Proverbs 18:16, Solomon told us, in effect, that our gifts make room for us, prosper us, and bring us before notable people. It’s your gift—not your education, not your job—that brings you before influential people. It’s your gift that prospers you. If you want to be truly successful in life, you have to find your area of authority and its accompanying gift or gifts. Then, you need to make a point to recognize the strength of that authority, stay with it, and develop it.

Let your mind be renewed by God’s Word, and then you will be transformed into what God’s perfect will is for you and your life. You won’t think of yourself more—or less—highly than you should, but you’ll think of yourself in just the right way—according to your authority.

“Different” Isn’t a Value Judgment

“We have different gifts” (Romans 12:6). I hope it is clear to you that the term “different gifts” does not mean that some personal authority gifts are more important than others—different just means “different.” This point is crucial, because some people believe that if their gifts aren’t up-front where everybody can see them, then they must be inferior. They think that the person who is always conspicuous is the one who is the most valuable. Yet just because you’re not out front doesn’t mean you’re not important.

In another of his writings, Paul said that some of the most important parts of the body are hidden. (See 1 Corinthians 12:22–24.) Consider how the human body functions. Your heart is never seen, yet it circulates blood throughout your body and keeps you alive. If your heart were to become visible outside your body, then, unless you were on an operating table having surgery, you would likely be dead! Likewise, when people are out of place from their authority, they can “kill” the community.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.(1 Corinthians 12:17–20)