I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you (Luke 10:19, NLT).
Dear Friends,
Do you know who you are in Christ, and your authority in Him?
There is an amusing story about the late Christian A. Herter, former U.S. Secretary of State, when he was running hard for reelection as Governor of Massachusetts. One day he arrived late at a barbecue.
He'd had no breakfast or lunch, and he was famished. As he moved down the serving line, he held out his plate and received one piece of chicken. The governor said to the serving lady, "Excuse me, do you mind if I get another piece of chicken. I'm very hungry."
"Sorry," the lady responder, "I'm supposed to give one piece to each person."
"But I'm starved," he repeated.
Again she said: "Only one to a customer."
Herter was normally a modest man, but he decided this was the time to use the weight of his office, and said, "Madam, do you know who I am? I am the governor of this state."
"Do you know who I am?" she answered. "I'm the lady in charge of chicken. Move along, mister."
Now personally, I would have probably given the governor an extra piece of chicken. However, the lady's stubbornness is noteworthy for two reasons. First, she knew who she was -- that is, the lady in charge of chicken. Second, she knew what her authority was -- that is, she diligently implemented the instructions given to her.
Christians need to be more like the chicken lady. They need to know who they are in Christ, that they have been filled with His Spirit and have received His power (Acts 1:8), they are joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17), and are seated with Him in heaven (Ephesians 2:6). When we walk in the Spirit, we walk in His authority, we speak His words, and we do His acts. We are not intimidated by the powerful of this world, or by the powers of darkness. The devil should be intimidated by all Spirit-filled followers of Christ. Pastor John Hagee humorously says that when the devil sees us coming, "He should grab his Maalox and dial 9-1-1.
" When facing the giant, symbolic of Satan, David knew who he was. "David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied'" (1 Samuel 17:45, NIV).
Now, some 3,000 years later, we have the indwelling Christ and the revelations of the New Covenant. Like the chicken lady, let us walk in the knowledge of who we are and in the authority given to us in Christ.
Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,
Bill Bright
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