TOWARDS AUTHORITIES
Genesis 20:64Judges 5:9 My (God’s) HEART is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people.
In I Corinthians 16 15 we read “I beseech you brethren that ye submit yourselves to those that have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints and to everyone that helpeth and laboureth with us.”
Hebrews 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. verse 17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief. verse 24 Salute them that have the rule over you.
To have God’s own heart I must be thinking about those that he has placed in authority over me both in the church and in government, and, I think, even at work. 1 Peter 2:18 Be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward.
I have heard that godly pastors and their families have been assigned satanists to pray that satan would tempt and destroy them. I must uphold their hands in prayer and in listening and applying the truth that they share and let them know that I am praying. God himself has his heart towards them and is looking for yielded people to support and encourage them.
It has become fashionable in America to distrust and vilify those in leadership. Don’t forget that the government that God was commanding support of, the Romans, were not gentle or good but very harsh and aggressive. In fact there is a basic principle that God asks us to do my regardless of whether the other person behaves in the way I would like. I remember the when Hudson Taylor was upset at the leadership of the mission not supporting his God-given call to take the gospel to the center of China, that God told him, “If I can take you to China through this leadership, then I can guide you through this leadership”. He calmed down and then God led him eventually to start his own mission. He needed to wait in order to understand what a properly led mission would look like and also for God to prepare the field. Do I trust the Lord to be able to lead and protect through messed up leaders? Of course if a pastor falls into open sin or preaches heresy then I need to still pray for them but seek more godly authority.
The next time I am tempted to badmouth a pastor, or I have an attitude towards being stopped by the police or undermine my boss: first I need to thank God for his intentions in giving me this authority, pray for their blessing and let God work through them effectively by my good attitude. When my ways are his ways I will have a heart towards m
verlebellmd.com 