I suppose I've been afar again over the last few days. I have still been reading, briefly, but haven't taken time to write. That has been partially due to quite a flurry of activity at work, which I was fortunate to know in advance would be finished by yesterday. I think it went well. We'll see.
This chapter of Abba's Heart deals with the issue of authority. We must invoke the Father's authority, represented by the ring which the father of the prodigal places upon his finger when he returns home, if we are to have the power to live as sons and daughters rather than as forsaken, wandering orphans.
A few quotations:
Authority is not the same things as power. Power is the ability to make something happen; authority is the right to use that power for a righteous purpose. As children of God, we carry the Father's authority. As we walk in His authority, He empowers us to carry out His will. - Neal Lozano, Abba's Heart
But there's a thing about authority: if I try to use the authority which has been delegated to me to do something that is clearly not the Father's will, then the power which He makes available to me under His authority will be revoked, as well.
Some people have a negative view of authority because someone in authority abused them. Others have witnessed the abuse of authority toward others. Mistrust of authority is rampant, often for good reasons. - ibid.
This gets to the core of why so many of us have difficulty relating to God as Father, when our own examples of fatherhood were less than exemplary. IThat isn't exactly the same thing as the blanket rejection of authority, but it is close.
But since all authority originates from God, a blanket rejection of authority puts us in opposition to Him. The rejection of authority is in essence part of mankind's rejection of the Father Himself. - ibid.
I can hear people saying that "it isn't the same thing," and maybe it isn't, but I agree with Neal that it is, indeed, related. I see and hear so many people who don't understand how they are rejecting God's authority over us.
The word authority contains the idea of an author, a creator and source. - ibid.
I don't suppose I need to beat the reader over the head with this idea. It's a wonderful thought, though, so don't fail to dwell on it. And what a wonderful story of love He has written!
The first creed of the church was "Jesus is Lord," which meant that we willing accept the authority of Jesus over our lives. - ibid.
Too often, we pay lip service to this. We accept the idea that Jesus should have authority over us, while rejecting any agent through whom He might be directing us in a way other than the one we have chosen for ourselves. This rejection of the authority of Jesus is the reason we become powerless when we are prodigal. Without living under His authority, we have none of our own to exercise. As the living Body of Christ tasked with carefully exercising His authority in love (as it can only be used), even the Church allows that we have a responsibility to exercise our informed conscience in our particular circumstances with regard to her teachings. I have friends who do this very carefully, acknowledging the Church's teaching while humbly concluding that their own circumstances require them to act in a different way - yes, I'm thinking of you, dear friend. I know of others who reject Church teaching because and whenever it conflicts with their own circumstances. One preserves our obedient adherence to Christ's authority, the other breaks it.
It is nearly impossible to truly embrace God's redeeming, transforming grace, let alone to live a spiritually empowered life, while we reject the Father's and Jesus' authority. And the spiritual influences that enter our lives as a result of that decision do not often openly reveal their true nature.
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