Do not be easily swayed by what you see.

We've already talked this week about how fear and lack of knowledge of our identity in Christ can stunt our growth in spiritual authority. We also discussed how the Holy Spirit was sent as our advocate (helper) when Jesus ascended to Heaven after the Resurrection. But how do we begin to walk in this authority granted by the Spirit?

We must first grow deep roots. We must stop talking about this Christian walk, in theory, and practice the principles of the journey. We must be busy with our Father’s business. We must choose to lay down sin. Sin creates chaos in our lives. It becomes challenging to hear the voice of God when we have rampant sins in our lives. It creates further bondage and confusion surrounding our authority.

Do you know that when I was a young single mom in my late teens and early twenties, I went to church every Sunday and cried my way down to the altar every Sunday for months and possibly even a year?! And yet, I left service and went right back home to my live-in boyfriend, where I operated in sexual sin. Yet, I never made the connection about why I was constantly depressed, anxious, fearful, and overwhelmed. Jesus told us in Luke 6:46-49, "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."

Some of us have built our homes on sinking sand, lacking roots that would go deep, unable to withstand the storms we could see (and the ones we couldn't). We cannot live a half-hearted, half-committed life before the Lord and expect to have all spiritual authority to command chaos, confusion, anxiety, and more to go. We must grow deep roots that are immovable and unshakable. Why do we keep living our lives in unrepentant sin and expect the blessings and power of God to flow?

Points to Ponder:

• Is there anything in your life that you need to lay down? Is there an unrepentant sin in your life?
• If answering ‘yes’ to the above, do you think those things have hindered your spiritual authority? Why or why not?