Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, "All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (Perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion) to the very close and consummation of the Age. Amen (let it be).
Been kind of parked here today.
The transference of the ministry of Jesus to the disciples. Then He tells them that they have been called to transfer to others the same ministry. It wasn't about just doing something.
It wasn't about a system of sacrifice that had a gazillion rules that you had to do perfectly if you wanted results. These verses from Matthew is about the transference of purpose and authority to carry out the ministry of Jesus.
Would it not stand to reason that if we have been called into the ministry of Jesus, that we would be empowered and given authority to do so? I think maybe yes. Too often we boil this incredible transference down to a list of rules that we must keep, thinking that somehow our ability to keep said rules is evidence that "BY JINGO!" we made it.
Do this....
Don't do this.....
Go here....
Don't go here.....
Hang out with these folks....
Stay away from this crowd...
And on and on and on.
When in fact, being saved includes the call to follow (can't follow if I'm not told which way we're going)....to obey.....(Obedience because I want to, not because I have to). In other words, I see people trying to do the "Born Again" thing without really being born again. Oh they got the terminology down pat. They bought the Bible and got all the trappings, but as you interact with them, you see that they are really struggling to walk out this new relationship. It isn't that they are lying, or cheating in this relationship. It's simply because no one had taken the time to help them understand what it's all about.
They've never been taught that their number one thing on their "GOD LIST" is to worship Him. Sorry guys....worship triumphs over evangelism. We are worship machines that have chased the wind looking to satisfy the worship itch we have. We rejected God, but the worship itch was still there. SO we tried money and it satisfied for a season. We tried drugs and alcohol and they only lead us farther and farther away from God and our original purpose here on planet earth.
We are worship unto God. He gave us life and we took it away from His purpose and served our own purposes. At least we thought it was our own purpose and doing. We were so blind that we couldn't see that we were serving an enemy who solely existed to steal, kill and destroy us. So when we came under the conviction and influence of the Holy Spirit, we were suddenly awakened to our need to change. We may not have totally understood it, we may not even have had language for it, but we knew that something was up. So we came confessing our sins....realizing our need to be forgiven and cleaned up inside from all our mess. We placed ourselves under the rule and reign of Jesus, and we opened up our hearts to receive His Holy Spirit. It's the power and authority transference from Jesus that enables us to be worship unto God. Our lives should be filled with thankfulness and gratefulness. Are our lives perfect? Far from it. Do we have problems? You bet. But the power and authority we've been given helps us to see and approach life differently that we did in the past.
Now here is where it gets dicey and some folks fall away.
If we have gone through the born again process, then we have been given the authority and power to move through our daily affairs and, at the same time, be available for Jesus to use at a moments notice. Scary? Yes. You'll come up with a million reasons why you can't follow this part of this new life, but it won't wash. Why? Because you......have......been......given......power.....and..
authority....to face whatever confronts you....to engage and overcome under the direction of the Holy Spirit leading you. Sounds like Twilight zone, but it ain't...it's Jesus!
God on you....
mbb
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