Our Only Authority is the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the only Authority in our lives and hearts. Anyone else who is placed as the Authority is usurping the Holy Spirit. We listen to others and evaluate what they say according to the Bible.

When we obey civil authorities we do it in obedience to the Holy Spirit Who tells us in His Word to obey them when they do not disobey or dishonor God.

This is true in any relationships we have. Husbands are leaders by teaching, protecting and example but they do not override the Holy Spirit.

When we submit to our husband as he submits to God we are ultimately obeying the Holy Spirit.

All born again believers are subject to one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are not obligated to do what others tell us to do unless it agrees with the Holy Spirit.

We encourage one another in the Lord all the time. We instruct one another but none of us has authority over another unless it is a job situation, then we obey our employers as they obey God.

We are never required to obey someone who is telling us to disobey God.

Acts 5:29

"29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."

When we obey Christ we will choose to submit ourselves to others for their good and the glory of God at times, other times we will decline to submit because what they ask us to do is against what God is telling us to do. We always obey God first.

Exodus 1:17

"The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live."

Jeremiah 26:12

"But Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people, "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard."

1 Samuel 15:24

"And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice."

Sadly I once heard a missionary couple instruct others to disregard the Bible if it created disunity. Unity was their god instead of the God of the Bible. Those who preach such things are not obeying God and must be suspect in all other things.

We are never to set aside God's principles for the sake of superficial peace. Just the opposite, if someone negates the Bible we are to correct them and the sin will be on them if they fight against God's Word.

Ezekiel 3:17-19 "…17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me. 18 I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. 19 But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.…"

God and his Word always take priority over anyone and everything else. If someone fights against God's Word then that is on them, they are the ones fighting, we are merely telling the truth in obedience to God.

Playing a Role or Authenticity

I once heard someone say to me, "I was playing a role", meaning this person was not authentic in front of other people so they acted the way they were expected to act without it being a real part of who they were.

We are living in times in which most people are playing a role to entice others to like them. These people cannot be trusted, we never know when they are "playing a role" or if they are being honest.

These people never offer anything about themselves and when asked they only speak of good things they think will impress the ones they are speaking to.

Many years ago when I was a child I heard an adult say; "how can we know what the true self of the television actor is when they are so used to "acting." Everthing they do and say is a "put on" to cause others to elevate and admire them.

May we practice through the help of the Holy Spirit being authentic and truthful about ourselves. Self-reflection is the key to growing in holiness, spiritual and emotional maturity.

1 John 1:9

"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

James 5:16

"16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Without confession of flaws and sins there is no spiritual and emotional maturity.

The Gift of Apology and Self-Reflection

Have you wronged someone and are agonizing over it through a tender conscience?

Then you have been given a gift, that gift being a chance to right a wrong, to clear your conscience, and to continue on to Spiritual and emotional growth.

So often people either agonize over having to confess their failures or worse blame others for them, bypassing an opportunity to receive God's forgiveness and restore a broken relationship.

When someone is so fixated on appearing perfect, feeling superior to others, and dedicated to preserving their image they miss out on those gifts of a clear conscience, a wrong made right and the value of broadening wisdom.

Proverbs 4:5-9

"5 Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

6 Do not abandon her, and she will guard you;

Love her, and she will watch over you.

7 The [a]beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

8 Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

9 She will place on your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

There is only one way to get this wisdom that is valued far greater than gold. This wisdom comes to us when we ask God for it, follow His principles in His Word the Bible, and confess all those flaws that hold us back.

When there is pride and a lack of confession and openness about our flaws there can be no growth. Those who will not swallow their pride and do this will remain spiritual and emotional infants unable to enjoy the wisdom that only comes from God.

Judgments, Jealousy and Mindsets

Most people in our day base their decisions and judgments about people on what they have heard and their jealousy factor. They interpret what their target has said or done by their own mindset frought with anger and malice toward anyone who does not think the way they think.

In my years as a youth I do not remember one time when two people sat down to discuss a disagreement to resolve it. There was always shouting, refusal to listen and character assassination rather than rational and reasonable facts. There was never self-reflection to learn what happened and their part in it.

Many people in our culture decide to dislike someone so they can fit into the crowd that has gossiped about those they have singled out. Anger is at the root of merely believing something we have heard when there has been no good evidence.

Kind and loving people want to resolve things and even evaluate their own hearts as well as review their actions to be sure who might be at fault if anyone is at fault. With narcissists only others are at fault, they take no responsibility in their own flawed character.

Our culture as a whole is dedicated to self-preservation over relationship love and affection. Since jealousy dominates the culture, people compete with one another to be first and superior, there is no room for sacrificial love.

It takes sacrificial love to care more about preserving a relationship than we do about our own need to be superior. The self-esteem teaching over the past 50 years has destroyed love, kindness and a depth of character that it takes to develop a relationship into a lasting bond for a lifetime.

If you find yourself solitary a lot because almost everyone is parading themselves to be special, then you are not alone, many people find themselves avoiding relationships because the culture as a whole does not know how to engage as a true friend.

God said that in the last days there would be an absence of faith and along with this absence of faith will be an absence of love, God's kind of love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Do not be discouraged, we cannot change the world around us nor can we change other individuals, but we can seek Christ to become like Him. If we spend too much time with the world or family who acts disrespectfully on a regular basis we WILL become like them, perhaps not completely but to some degree.

If we want to be like Christ we must walk with those who also want to be like Christ. These people will be rare but they do exist and God can find them for us.

Proverbs 19:22

"The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar."

1 Corinthians 3:2-3 "…2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? "

Proverbs 13:19-21 "…19 Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is detestable to fools. 20 He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. 21 Disaster pursues sinners, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.…"

Choose your companions wisely, be kind to everyone so that you will have a clear conscience no matter how anyone else treats us. This is the "bless your enemies" part, not that we make them our constant companions but that when they cross our paths we do not become like them.

A Man with Demonic Influence Sent to Attack You Will Be Marked By . . .

Speak Anyway and Leave the Results to Christ

Doing Something for God

If someone is "doing something for God" they are depending on their own good deeds and flesh to make points with Him. When we are in Christ He works through us and the good works we do are from Him through us. We do not take the credit for the good we do, we give the credit to God.

Ephesians 2:10

"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

It is possible and likely many who "do things for Christ" will go to hell because they were not trusting in Him but in themselves to earn points with God.

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

The only good deeds that count with God are those Christ does through us, not of our own design or effort.

Luke 9:23 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”

Romans 12:1-2

"12 Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and [e]acceptable and perfect."

Many people will do things God never told them to do feeling good that they "did them for God." But this is not evidence that someone is saved or has trusted Christ.

The evidence that someone has trusted Christ is the following, which leads to works through Christ in them:

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."