YOU HAVE AUTHORITY

Dr Mrs Mandu Charles Ikpe

This message calls us to return to the place of power through fellowship with the Holy Spirit who gives us power.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Ephesians 1:17-19.

Jesus is seated in the heavenly places; far above all principalities and powers. As believers, we are also seated together with Him above all powers. We have received power and authority from God to tread on principalities and powers; serpents and scorpions. We have the power to rule over nations.

But why we do not manifest this authority is because we spend so much time on the physical things than in spiritual things. We focus more on the things of the flesh and little on the things of the Spirit.

For us to manifest the exceeding greatness of God’s power in us, we must activate the power in us through spending more time in constant fellowship with God, and not on the social and material things. Our greater attention must be focused on the spiritual and not on the physical and material things.

The Church has taken the back seat for too long and has been relegated to the background in the schemes of things because we have lost constant fellowship with the source of our power and authority. For this power to be activated, we must go back to the place of constant fellowship, prayer and worship with thanksgiving.

When we dwell in the Spirit of God, our spiritual eyes and understanding will open; then we will know exactly what God wants us to do. When our spiritual eyes are closed, we won’t see what God sees; we won’t hear what God hears. For us to exercise power and authority, we must see what God sees and hear what God hears. A Christian with closed spiritual eyes and spiritual senses of revelation will never see and hear what God sees and hears.

We must look again into our relationship with God; we must examine our lifestyles and see if they suit God’s ways.

DIVINE ALIGNMENT FOR POWER

Men of God of old were able to exercise authority because they were able to hear what God heard. For instance, Elijah the prophet who was described as a man of like passion as we are, heard what God heard and saw what God saw.

1Kings 17:1 states: And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Here, Elijah didn’t even bother to say, according to God’s word: he said, according to my word because he heard exactly what God heard at that time. His word stood: why? Because he was standing before God. He said: As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Elijah was standing before God, this is the secret of exercising authority. He allowed himself to be immersed in the Spirit of God. He understood the mind of God. Elijah has so aligned with God; standing before Him such that he understood the ways of God. We must align ourselves with God in order to understand His ways.

Unfortunately, so many of us depend on man’s connection and they all fail us. We must align with God, stand before Him and not standing before man. Standing before God helps us to activate our spiritual senses.
Paul the apostle also aligned with God that he said: “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God, “ 1Corinthians 2:4-5 KJV.

DECLARE GOD’S MIND REGARDLESS

Notice that God’s word, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, may not always be in your favour, but you must declare it the way it is. When Elijah declared God’s word that closed up heaven for three and a half years, it was not to his favour because he had to hide in the brook because King Ahab was pursuing him. The same happened to Paul who was persecuted for the gospel.

It doesn’t matter what you are going through, but you must be aligned with God. You cannot operate in the flesh and expect God to use you.

GOD WANTS TO HEAL THE WORLD THROUGH YOU

God wants to use us to solve the problems of the world. The Church is the solution to the world’s problems but God cannot use us to heal the world if we’re not in constant rapport with Him. God wants to use us to solve many problems, like the Coronavirus pandemic, but we must align ourselves with Him because our spiritual senses must stay open so we can hear what God hears and steps out with boldness to do what God hears and wants us to do.

STEP OUT BOLDLY

Fear is an enemy. It will stop you from doing what God wants you to do. Fear and doubt will deny you of the power of God. God is looking for men and women of courage and boldness to do mighty things.
Elijah exercised boldness in declaring the mind of God. Paul and Peter, too, showed boldness in their approach to the things of God. In spite of personal challenges, Paul was bold to declare: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

This message is asking you to activate the power of God in you. If you are willing and ready to submit yourself, God is willing to use you. You’re the person God wants to use because you’re seated at the right hand of God in heavenly places. You’re the one to deliver the oppressed and heal the sick world.

Dr Mrs Mandy Ikpe is a senior consultant with UUTH and President, Women In Love, FLO. She gave this message on Thursday; July 23, 2020, at FLO fellowship, Uyo

For more information, visit: firstlovefoundation.org.ng