Exercising Our God-Given Authority

According to the narrative, the service went on until past midnight. Paul was leaving Troas the next day and not knowing when he would see the brethren again, his sermon lasted until midnight. One could forgive the young man, Eutychus, who had fallen asleep in a window on the third loft. Not only was he asleep, the Scriptures tell us he had "fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead" (Acts 20:9, KJV). The narrative continues, "And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted" (vv.10-12).

It is instructive to note that in what could have been a chaotic situation, the apostle was not flustered by the dramatic turn of events. Those around him must have been watching his every step as he walked towards the body on the floor. With each stride he probably recalled the Scriptures that told of Elijah stretching himself three times upon the body of deceased son of the widow at Zarephath and the miracle that followed (1 Kings 17:21-24), because here he did almost the same thing and got the same result. Remarkably, Paul did not skip a beat but went right back to the service, broke and ate bread, and talked “till break of day.” To him, what happened was no big deal.

The apostle Peter also had one of those matter-of-fact encounters. In going up to the temple with John, he met the lame man begging for alms. After commanding the man to look on them, "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God" (Acts 3:6-8). What stands out with incidents like these is that the men of God took control of the respective situations, and were so in tune with God that it was as if their actions were par for the course. In other words, there was nothing to it. It was just another incident they had to deal with amidst the hustle and bustle of their day. What made them so confident and so successful? They had their God-given authority and they exercised it, fully expecting God to honor His word.

What about your authority? Are you taking charge of situations you should be in control of? If you are at a place where there is confusion and brokenness, whether at work, home, school or wherever you might be, by the Spirit of God you can make a difference. You have been deputized by Christ to act on His behalf. Isn't it about time you started exercising that authority?

When Discomfort Speaks - Part II

The total body discomfort caused by the pebble in my shoe reminded me that Christ set up His body, the Church, the same way. When one member hurts, the whole "body" ought to hurt as well because we are all connected. But there was one other important enlightenment that resulted from my discomfort; it only stopped when I took the time to remove its cause.

As the child of God tries to make his or her way through this world, there are times when we veer off-track. Whether in thoughts, words, or deeds, we miss God's standard; we violate His word. For some people, this may not be that big of a deal. Like a callused foot, they seem void of any sensitivity to the fact that something is wrong. Paul's characterization of people "having their conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:2, KJV) could easily apply to them. Bible Scholar Albert Gill observes that these are they "whose consciences are cauterized and hardened, and past feeling; and have no regard to what they say or do, make no conscience of anything." However, if we profess to be led by the Spirit, our consciences are sensitive to His promptings and veering off-track produces an inner discomfort. Like the pebble in the shoe, this discomfort persists until we do something about it.

The Psalmist David found this out only too well. After committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband Uriah killed in an attempt to cover up his indiscretion, Nathan the prophet was sent to him by God to awaken him to a sense of his sin. His discomfort caused him to immediately acknowledge his sins, and he showed true repentance in the words immortalized in Psalm 51. Gill notes that this Psalm remains on record "for the instruction of such as should fall into sin, how to behave, where to apply, and for their comfort." With God, the kind of sin does not matter. What matters is that we be sensitive to the Spirit's conviction and that we do something about it.

The confession "Have mercy upon me, O God" (Psalm 51:1a) is the start of the correct response to spiritual discomfort. It sets in motion the process for relationship restoration with God and those we may have wronged. And lest we forget, that discomfort does not go away until we either become callused and insenstive or we do something about it. How do you choose?

When Discomfort "Speaks" - Part I

The feeling was as uncomfortable as it was annoying. The discomfort became worse with each step and the trek across the parking lot seemed like an exercise in torture. I do not know where it came from because had I felt it before, there was no way I would have left it there. It had happened before and I knew it would only get worse if I did not get it removed. The source of my problem? Something that felt like a very small pebble in my shoe. And it caused me a lot of hurt.

When I was able to finally remove it, I recall the feeling of relief. My whole body seemed to thank me because even though the pebble was only in one shoe, it was as if every other part of my body shared the hurt. Of course, that can be explained biologically. However, some days later it occurred to me that God, in Christ, set up His body, the church, the very same way. Every believer is a part of the body of Christ. The apostle Paul puts it this way, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. . . . But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him" (1 Corinthians 12: 13-14, 18, KJV). That is as true today as it was in the first century when he wrote it. Because we are all a part of one body, when one hurts the whole body should hurt. Paul continues, "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance" (vv. 25-26, The Message).

My left foot was exuberant when I removed the pebble, and every other part of my body entered into that exuberance. To put it in simple form, the sensory nerves in the sole of my foot transmitted to my brain the problem my foot was experiencing. My brain processed that information in a way I could understand and I was able to call upon my hands, both of whom cooperated, to do something about the pain in my foot. Because they are all connected. That church brother or sister that we try to avoid, don't particular care for or couldn't care less about, is connected to us. We cannot be indifferent to the needs of any person in the body. We must share in each other's joy and pain. It is easy to do the former, but the latter is much more difficult. It is easier to believe that someone else's pain is not our problem, yet it is God's will that we be mindful of each other.

Do you know or know of someone in "the body" that is hurting? Can you feel that hurt? What are you going to do about it?