Good Monday morning (5.23.11),

The Lord continues to teach us about authority – His and ours. What we are learning is that His authority becomes ours as we seek Him first and become doers of what He shows us and not just hearers.

Authority and power are not the same thing even though they often operate in tandem. Power can be obtained through nothing but brute force. Authority implies, and depends upon, access to superior information or knowledge.

Authority trumps power every time. Good, proper authority is always backed by wisdom. And power that preserves is always backed by proper authority.

We understand that God operates in all truth and wisdom. His authority is absolute. As a result, the power from above is pure. It brings life.

The amazing fact is that God wants to share both His power and his authority with us!

In the Old Testament we were told that the secret things belong to the Lord (Deut. 29:29). The New Century translates that verse: “There are some things the Lord has kept secret, and there are some things He has let us know.”

The New Testament changes everything. Mark chapter 4 informs us that although some things were temporarily hidden (from Adam’s fall until Christ’s resurrection), there is nothing hidden that won’t be revealed, nor is there anything kept secret except in order that it may be made known.

But we need to understand that God’s hidden knowledge, the secrets of the universe, the wisdom of the ages, is not automatically downloaded into us at the moment of salvation.

Imagine a two-year-old with access to nuclear launch codes!

This same chapter of Mark introduces us to the parable of the sower, where we learn that many hear the Word (learn about the Savior) but not all of them bear fruit. We also find that only those who have something will receive more from God.

You see, there is opposition to our acquiring the knowledge of God. We have an enemy who tries to steal everything good that God intends for us.

Also, our own flesh works against us. The flesh, our mind and will and emotions, doesn’t want to undergo the discipline necessary for the seed to set down roots and then produce a crop. The flesh has no patience and does not want to stick with God’s plan…it keeps trying to strike out on a path of its own choosing, continually looking for a short cut through the forest of self denial and patience.

The flesh, in addition, is easily seduced by false pleasures and false power -- both of which the world offers in abundance. Once we hear the Word of God (receive the seed) we will always have a choice to stick with the Word or wander off in search of other more sensual pursuits and counterfeit strengths.

Only those who receive the Word, the presence, the ways, of God and plant them in the soil of a yielded and grateful heart will produce a crop that has been watered by obedience, fertilized with patience, and nurtured in love.

Luke says it like this: “But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just ( noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15, Amplified.

God has no favorites. He is no respecter of persons.

Everyone receives seed. Everyone. What we do with that seed determines everything about where and how we spend eternity. What most of us don’t want to acknowledge is that what we do with the seed also defines the sort of life we lead while still on this earth.

I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. We have choices. God gave us free will which He will not violate.

Want peace? It’s your choice. Want freedom from confusion, despair, hopelessness? You decide. Do you want to grow a crop of destruction or restoration?

What you do with the Word you receive will determine which sort of crop you harvest.

To him who has, more will be given, and to him who does not have everything will be taken away. Your crop is what you have. Whether you have something so you can receive more, or whether you have nothing so that even what you have is taken away (what’s taken away are the false things you have chosen instead of the true), that is based solely on what you do with the things of God.

There are mysteries, secrets, wisdoms that have been hidden away until this age, the age of the church which is the body of Christ. These things are waiting to be revealed to those who have produced a crop, who have been faithful, who have withstood the tests of time and difficulty…who have endured.

You choose.

^“[Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known.

“If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend.

“And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

“For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away [by force],” Mark 4:22-25, Amplified

Laurie Gross