Life on Fireনমুনা

In Psalm 24 David asks the question, 'who may ascend the hill of the Lord'(v3). In other words 'who can enter into the elevated places of spiritual influence?'.

David goes on to answer his own question, 'He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.' (v4)

Elijah and John the Baptist did not operate in such power without living their lives in a specific way. God is looking for people who have clean hands and pure hearts; people whose lives are fully given to Him and lived rightly before Him. We cannot have authentic authority without living lives of purity.

One of the greatest neutralisers of our spiritual authority is how we live. We often want to be powerful people for God but we compromise in our way of living. We make excuses for actions, thoughts, and lifestyles that are not in alignment with the Kingdom of Heaven, but instead are more in line with the kingdom of darkness. Inadvertently, we forfeit authentic authority through compromise.

This is because authentic authority is rooted in intimacy with God, and we cannot be intimate with a holy God if we treasure lifestyles that are opposed to Him.

Indeed, we cannot make ourselves pure and holy; which is why Christ's death and resurrection are so important; and without the power of the Holy Spirit we cannot go on to live the pure and holy lifestyles that we have been called to. But we can partner with the Holy Spirit and live in the power of Christ's death and resurrection. This enables us to live lives of purity that give us access to increased intimacy with God and therefore, authentic authority.

One way we can do this is by doing regular 'heart checks' with God. Using David's prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 you can ask God to search your heart and to reveal anything wicked and opposed to him.

As the Holy Spirit does this work of revealing, you have to repent and accept His forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is not in the business of condemning you but convicting you and bringing you into deeper intimacy with God. He desires a pure and holy people that He can walk intimately with and entrust with authentic authority for the advancement of His Kingdom.